Stars, Blood, and Family
by ginonymous
Summary: Five months ago, Alvarez abruptly ceased its invasion of Ishgar and retreated, returning things to a shaky status quo. Now, a mission directly from the Royal Family sends Lucy on a perilous journey with an unexpected companion. Or companions...she's not sure. All she knows is that if she fails, her life will not be the only one forfeit. Rated for language
1. Introduction

Hi everyone. This is my first Fairy Tail ff and this chapter (not a prologue exactly) is different from the others that will follow as there is only a couple of dialogue here. It's just the way this ended up working out (the more dialogue I did have, the longer this chapter stretched while jumping all over the place) Now onto the important questions:

-Do I own Fairy Tail?

Erm, would I be writing fanfiction if I did? No, no I wouldn't. You know who doesn't write Fairy Tail fanfiction? Hiro Mashima. When he writes Fairy Tail, its called canon.

-Is this story a Lalu? A Nalu? A(n) (insert whatever name prefix here)lu?

Well, it's definitely not a Nalu. I just can't ship Lucy with any members of Team Natsu. As for Lalu...well, if nothing else, there'll be a bromance y'all! Maybe. Sorta. Because Laxus is prickly like that.

-When does this story take place?

Good question! Anime-only arcs are included here as well as things from the manga. Admittedly, I tweaked things a little: for instance, Fairy Tail did disband for a year and reformed but Lucy did not leave Crocus and immediately join Natsu in the effort to reform the guild. Also, while Alvarez did begin their invasion of Ishgar, it does not completely follow canon as I took out bits and pieces for the story (also because I have yet to read the manga). Lucy and Brandish μ did meet and learn about Layla opening the Eclipse Gate but Aquarius didn't say anything about her key once again reappearing in Earthland. Zeref joins Irene at the palace for a little bit while she's doing her thing with the Royal family only to abruptly announce Alvarez will leave Ishgar. Other things may have been changed but this story is a WIP and I'll do my best to make the changes clear when they come up. Essentially, if something in this story diverges from canon, assume it was done purposefully.

Also, I have not written...well, anything really, in a very very long time. This story was born from a couple of theories I've had for a while now since I couldn't find any other stories that suggested/played with the same theories and dammit, I want to share.

I hope you enjoy the story.

* * *

 **Stars, Blood, and Family**

* * *

The last thing Lucy saw as the train pulled away from Magnolia Station was a giant fist slamming down on an unsuspecting Natsu and Happy as they continued to sniff and give chase to her scent. One hand slowly dragged down Lucy's face, resigned to the antics of her best friend but still somewhat ashamed by the public spectacle of Fairy Tail's master needing to physically stop the dragon slayer's impetuous actions, Lucy let out a silent prayer of thanks that Magnolia on the whole was accustomed to the guild's strange habits. The master's involvement would likely be a footnote to the fact that Natsu appeared to be on his way to a mission. To the great delight of the Magic Council and the relief of everyone who had either met or heard of The Salamander and his particular brand of exuberance, Team Natsu had been temporarily suspended from missions together owing to an incident last month that still gave Lucy the overpowering need to shower (not bathe—oh god, the thought of soaking in that filth, imaginary or not, _still_ sent shivers down her spine) and Natsu and Erza had been grounded from taking missions altogether.

Natsu was still grounded though master hemmed and hawed before letting Erza resume S-class missions after one week. What pay she made in excess of her month's living expenses was to go towards paying off the massive bill incurred when a town was forced to relocate entirely. He claimed the three days Erza had to wade through the swamp and what had once been a quaint little town, picking up all her weapons and various pieces of armor, and the subsequent time she had to spend in isolation due to the utterly rancid stench she was giving off, had been punishment enough. Personally, Lucy thought it was a combination of his walking by the "isolation room" and seeing a sniffling Erza (who had mistakenly taken a passing joke from Macao and Wakaba as fact and bathed in a tomato and onion juice concoction-Lucy did not understand why Erza thought either the bath or rubbing tomatoes and onions all over herself afterwards was a good idea) as well as the monetary loss incurred when an S-class mage as famous as the Titania was grounded from taking S-class missions with S-class rewards.

Mira's rage at the loss of her entire stock of tomatoes, onions, and, later that day, limes and vinegar, may have played a key role in the master's decision as well. Erza's last three days before her suspension was lifted had been _tense_ —the threat of an epic battle between an enraged Demon and the kept-in-the-dark Titania made everyone weary and Lucy was forced to come up with a plan to keep Erza out of Mira's sight and mind. Like Team Natsu's last mission, participants in her plan generally chose to pretend it never happened. Alzack and Bisca in particular, though it was rather difficult when Mira was constantly finding reasons to take Asuka off their hands and shooing them off to some empty room or another, or surprising them with a non-refundable romantic weekend away where they could be alone together, a near maniacal gleam in her eyes as she sent them a wink and knowing grin. Lucy wondered what she could possibly do for the Connells that could come anywhere close to the massive "thank you" and "I'm sorry" she and the entire guild owed them.

Then again, considering how quickly Bisca had snatched the tickets for the weekend getaway (Mira barely managed to reach the last syllable of the exclusive resort's name before a gust of wind seemingly seized the tickets off her hands and into Bisca's), Lucy might be in the clear. And Asuka was likely to find herself preparing to become a big sister if not by the end of this year, then certainly the next. Perhaps she should be more focused on how to apologize to Elfman and Evergreen, the former whom still could not look at her (she swore she heard a muttered, somewhat tearful, "It's not _maaan_!" come from him last time) and the latter whom was still trying to swat Lucy with her fan anytime they were within arm's reach of one another whilst silently conveying various threats.

Lucy almost wished to be subject to one of those threats right now. Anything was better than being left alone with her thoughts. But she had little choice in the matter.

She had been _summoned._

For the life of her, Lucy could not figure out _why_ she had been called to the capital nor the reason for the Royal family asking her to travel alone and incognito. The notice was apparently sitting on Master Makarov's suddenly clean desk when he arrived at the guild at six in the morning and after initially fearing the worst upon noticing the official seal on the envelope, Master Makarov dared to read the first page. To his relief, it neither demanded the guild's (re)disbandment or for reparations after a certain fire-wielder left behind a large Fairy Tail insignia on the walls of the castle nearly a year ago. Nor did it ask the guild to repair any damage incurred when Fairy Tail's mark appeared on that same wall, this time made of ice, about five months ago, after Alvarez and her army suspiciously suspended their war on Ishgar. The Royal Family did kindly request, however, that the responsible party please remove the sign because it was still very much so present despite the efforts of nature and all sorts of fire and heat-related mages. Well, the request was made as kindly as a thinly-veiled order could be.

When Lucy arrived at the guild a few hours later, she was promptly sent to Master Makarov's office by Mira. This was not at all an unusual occurrence—considered by most to be Team Natsu's most reasonable (and weakest, thus least destructive) member, Lucy had somehow become her team's unofficial press secretary. Any complaints, questions, and praise (okay, the latter had yet to happen but a girl could dream and hope!) was brought to Lucy for a response and it had become commonplace enough that if Lucy was not present with her team, it was generally assumed she was with Master Makarov either clarifying some details or helping to smooth over ruffled feathers regarding some action or another of Team Natsu's. So into Master's office she went where, without a word, master handed her the letter to read. Once she finished, he handed her a smaller, heavier envelope that she knew to contain money.

She was being called to Crocus for an audience with the Royal Family. She was to leave that day and no one save herself and the master were allowed to know where she was going. Included was a sheet containing recommended inns for her to stay overnight during her four-day journey to Crocus as well as money to cover her expenses for the trip. If the amount was insufficient, she would be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses. The Royal Family had even checked and listed the schedules for various trains along her proposed route—which included several out-of-the-way places that would force her to backtrack and re-travel parts of her previous route. Apparently, Lucy was lucky to get to choose which of the listed towns and inns she would spend the night. Once Lucy was finished with the first letter, she was to hand it to Master Makarov, which would trigger a spell to destroy the parchment.

There was an addendum at the end, written in a scrawl Lucy recognized as being the messiest hand allowed for an aristocratic lady (she only just managed to hold back a shudder as memories of being made to practice penmanship for hours at a time under threat of a ruler to the knuckles for any word seen as being written by a "low-class" hand) suggesting, in rather strong terms, that Lucy be sure to keep her keys well-hidden in an effort to help hide her identity. Though the letter in general had been high-handed, with the included list of train schedules and pre-approved accommodations, it was this particular portion that made Lucy scowl, one hand immediately protectively going for her keys. Not even the false name she was to use to announce her presence at the palace bothered her as much as the mention of her keys.

Still, she would listen if for no other reason than that the last time Lucy and her keys were subjected to the interest of either royals, she was temporarily separated from her keys and dragons from centuries-past threatened the country. Looking down towards her keys brought her guild mark to attention and she worried whether or not she would need to hide the mark of her family. She was not so well known as other members of the guild or her teammates but she was still fairly recognizable as a member of Fairy Tail and even if people did not immediately recognize her, it would be fairly simple to discover who she was once they saw the mark. Master suggested wearing gloves but the weather was still too warm to justify wearing any and Lucy absolutely balked at the idea of being rid of the guild's insignia, even if temporarily. With an assurance she did not feel, Lucy cheerily told Master she would figure it out and that she needed to hurry if she was to make it to the capital in four days with the gratuitously long and convoluted path planned for her. With Master's promise to handle the members of Team Natsu for her, Lucy was out the door and sending out a cheerful goodbye to the few early birds—for Fairy Tail standards—in the guild.

Truly, the Royal Family were being extremely presumptuous and according to the given schedule, Lucy would have to leave on the next train heading westward in order to arrive in Crocus in the four days she was allotted for travel if she was to follow the overly-complicated course set up for her. Fortunately, she did not diverge from her usual schedule today and arrived at the guild in the morning as was her usual wont. Otherwise, she was unsure she could make it to the capital in the allotted timeframe while using the recommended trip itinerary. After haphazardly packing and writing a note for her teammates should they come looking for her, Lucy looked at her reflection and frowned.

Since it was made clear her identity was meant to be kept secret, it seemed wise to disguise herself. She might not have been a household name but she had made enough of a name for herself, either as a member of Team Natsu or as a former model and writer for Sorcerer's Weekly, that there was a real possibility someone might recognize her or at least think her to be a familiar face during her travels. With that in mind, Cancer was summoned to change her appearance but to her surprise, Cancer did not come alone. Virgo decided to help her master as well and before Lucy could say more than her name, the spirit had neatly repacked the blonde (now temporary brunette)'s luggage and, aware of her master's attachment to the guild, appeared with some makeup to hide the Fairy Tail mark on her hand with apologies and her usual request for punishment. Colored contacts and glasses completed Lucy's transformation while several concealed pockets in her pants, boots, and a loose poncho kept her keys hidden from sight.

Even if Natsu and Happy had managed to make it onto the train, it would have taken both some time, especially with Natsu's motion sickness, to recognize Lucy—and she was sure only her scent would have given her away. Settling into her private compartment, a luxury she was pleased was both afforded and demanded in her summons for the day's travel, Lucy's mind was free to wander. Unfortunately, Lucy was a curious soul with an unforgivably good memory and imagination, currently in the midst of a giant mystery and now with hours of free time on her hands.

Memories of the last time she was made privy to secrets held by the royal family, including their little secretive execution squad, nearly made her froth as anxiety filled her. The first hour of her trip was thus spent trying to keep the contents in her stomach where they were. Hour two was filled with more frothing, some tears and muttered denials, and the unwelcomed appearance of a worried Loke who took it upon himself to comfort his key holder. Unfortunately, his idea of comfort was predictably Loke-esque and the threat of a Lucy kick meant hour three saw him curl up and sulk in one of the corner seats against the wall. Fortunately, Lucy was more than fine with this as hour three also saw her finally decide this was absolutely _not_ another Eclipse Gate in the making, the Royal Family now knew better, and she was absolutely _not_ going to be thrown into some prison and her keys confiscated. Her relief was such it not only called Loke back to good humor in a burst of sparkles reading "I love Lucy Best!" but also damn near made her _glow_ which had Loke mumbling something somewhat crass regarding said glow and the fact that lions could mate up to fifty times a day. Hour four was thus heralded by the flying figure of Loke across the admittedly small compartment into the seats lining the opposite wall, courtesy of a quick kick. Quickly realizing he was sprawled out in an empty row of seats, the physical embodiment of the lion constellation took the opportunity provided with a lascivious grin.

"Oh? Why Lucy, if you wanted me lying down, you need only say s—" the dark look sent his way convinced him to leave in a shower of glitter and rainbows that faded to read "Lucy + Loke= 50 times!" before he finished his sentence.

It was for the best, Lucy decided, as she was sure no one would appreciate the Loke-shaped hole in the train's wall if he had remained. Unfortunately, that thought reminded Lucy of all the property damages Fairy Tail incurred, particularly her team and that the Royals were aware she was the least dangerous—and thus, weakest and easiest to punish—member of Team Natsu. As ideas and possibilities of different sorts of retribution and torture flashed through her mind, the kinder ones ranging from being forced to pay off every single jewel of destruction caused throughout the country (she would never be able to pay rent again—and worse, she would have to deal with her Landlady!) to being simultaneously flogged and boiled alive in oil (she could almost hear Natsu muttering something about tasty fire and Happy bemoan that Lucy wasn't fish). Unbeknownst to her, after her initial hyperventilation, she had taken to muttering various forms of torture which must have caught the attention of Virgo who summoned herself, face flushed as she nearly swooned at the words of her inattentive master.

Thus passed the next three hours, Virgo becoming more and more excited and aroused with each new macabre muttering, Lucy growing more and more depressed and her musings subsequently more descriptive, graphic, and brutal, unmindful of the flushed spirit currently rubbing her thighs together.

She stopped when Virgo breathlessly praised her genius, for the immortal had been exposed to and thought of many forms of punishment throughout her lifetime and more than a few of Lucy's ideas were new to the maiden spirit. Lucy squawked when Virgo fell onto her knees, hands clasped together in supplication, and begged for Lucy to practice some of those punishments on her. Her usual response unfortunately only further excited the spirit who swooned with a, "Oh, Princess is so good!" a hand over her heart as pure pleasure emanated from her very being. "Please, Princess, Deny me again! I have been so so bad, I do not deserve to be rewarded! Punish me, deny me, tie me to—" it was at this point Lucy forced Virgo's gate closure though she had an odd feeling the spirit might have taken some sort of pleasure from the act.

It was an hour before she was to arrive at the town where she would spend the night when she resolved to cease her tireless thoughts and anxiety. After all, with the exception of imprisoning her during the x791 Grand Magic Games, the Fiores had been kind enough the few times she chanced to speak with them and both fondly recalled Lucy's father—surely that, in addition to any residual guilt regarding the Eclipse Gate incident, could be used in Lucy's favor if need be. No, she needed to stop being so negative.

With a deep sigh, one which had become all too common after the guild had disbanded for that awful year, Lucy shook her head and gave both her cheeks light slaps in an effort to refocus her thoughts. She was not hurt, sick, or anything. Whatever happened tomorrow or the days after, whatever the Royal Family might want, it did not matter _right now_. Lucy needed to just focus on the present and make certain she did not take it for granted.

Besides, whatever the reason for her summons, Lucy should focus on the fact that she was essentially on an all-expenses paid trip.

With that thought in mind, Lucy resolved to enjoy her journey and take the unexpected time she had free to write or brainstorm new ideas for her story. Writer's block had been kicking her behind as of late and it was high time Lucy beat it. The remainder of the trip was uneventful, save at the inn the first night when Virgo made a surprise and unexpected visit, a pillow in hand and in what appeared to be a pajamas version of her usual maid outfit, wishing to partake in one of those classic sleepovers she heard so much about where girls could confide in one another about various tortures and punishments they could think of whilst using their pillows to bind and punish each other. Lucy spent half the first night convincing Virgo that was not what took place in sleepovers and the second half consoling the pouting spirit. The sun was starting to peak through the horizon when the solution hit her and she fought the urge to smack herself—she explained the concept of a pillow fight to Virgo and promised the now excited spirit a pillow fight (admittedly, the pinkette's excitement was tempered by the knowledge she was expected to hit Lucy _back_ with a pillow) at a later date. The next night, she had to specify "a later date" meant _after_ she arrived back at the guild. Fortunately, (or unfortunately, Lucy was not sure) Virgo had gotten it in her head that Lucy denying her was some long passive form of punishment and readily agreed with a somewhat disconcerting gleam in her otherwise deadpan eyes.

She was unsure whether it was too late to see the Royals when she finally arrived in Crocus the fourth day as it was nearing night but considered the urgency of the notice to excuse the rudeness of an unannounced and late-evening visit. As it turned out, it _was_ too late to visit and the guards at the front gate of the palace appeared offended she would think otherwise. There was some scoffing when she announced she was expected (which was only technically a lie) but after giving the alias she was told to use during her travels, they made a quick attitude adjustment. Ushered inside and then met by a quick succession of other guards and hired help, it seemed as if she blinked and found herself transported from the front gates to an empty and opulent but comfortable room. Princess Fiore was the first to arrive, five minutes after Lucy sat down having browsed the room once already, slightly out of breath as if she ran to meet with Lucy though she came to a sudden stop upon seeing the figure in the room. Another fifteen minutes and the King himself appeared, his reaction to Lucy's new appearance similar to his daughter. Both appeared suspicious whether or not she was actually Lucy Heartfilia and while a part of her was pleased at the sign of her being unrecognizable, another part was annoyed either should doubt her when her disguise was under their orders. Bending down to retrieve a key hidden in one of the lower side pockets of her pants, she summoned Virgo and that, along with washing the make up from her hand to reveal her Fairy Tail mark, satisfied the current ruler of the country and his heir.

Lucy was tired, anxious, curious as all heck, and most of all, in desperate want of good food, a nice long soak, and a good book to curl up with in bed. Traveling was exhausting business, especially when one took unnecessary routes. All she wanted was to know why she had been secretly summoned and take care of it so she could go home.

As it turned out, "Lucky" Lucy Heartfilia struck again because with little preamble, Princess Hisui Fiore blurted out, "We have a mission for you!"

And it was just Lucy's luck that everything suddenly became so much more complicated.

* * *

Please let me know what you think of the story. Also, where I could improve my writing as again, it has been many many years since I last wrote anything. Thanks for reading!

Edited to Add: Sorry about the formatting everyone. I can't seem to get the single line breaks


	2. Chapter 1

Hello Everyone! Thank you so much for the responses for the last chapter. As a reviewer, XxShyxX, mentioned, the last post was more of an introductory chapter. I didn't want to call it a prologue as generally, I view prologues as happening at a time a bit removed from where the story actually begins ("chapter one") nor could I really call it a chapter so Thank You as I was trying to figure out what to call it. To ilarual, I am very glad you're enjoying my writing and hope it continues. Team Natsu doesn't appear themselves very often in this story though obviously, with Lucy as a main character, it would be impossible not to have their presence felt. LucyxAnyoneShipper, I'm glad you're enjoying and hope you continue to do so! To everyone who faved/follows this story, thank you so much!

Please note I will likely go back to try to fix the format for the first post (again) until I finally have it formatted correctly...I'll likely be uploading this chapter differently from the last which will hopefully allow this to post with the correct format. If not, I apologize and will do what I can to correct it, though it may take some time as my current efforts have shown no results. If any out there is able to help me with my formatting issue, it would be much appreciated!

* * *

 **Chapter One**

* * *

 _"Choose Your companion wisely. Trustworthy, not only for Your Sake but for All of Ours. Strong in all ways imaginable for only You shall carry a heavier burden and Wise for nothing shall be shared which is not absolutely necessary. Most importantly, discreet for They are Hunting. Make no Mistake Lucy Heartfilia, Eyes are Watching and Minds set upon Your failure. Without success, there is only Death."_

* * *

In hindsight, Lucy should have expected something like this. For all that she was once widely known as the Heartfilia's "Lucky Lucy," it was not usually her that benefited from said luck. Besides, history had taught Lucy while she was well-educated in many a subject, her own family history and its lore was not one of them. So really, Lucy thought as she stared at the passing scenery, she should not be surprised.

That Heartfilia was not Jude's birth-given surname was no big revelation. Lucy had determined as much during the fight with Alvarez upon learning about her ancestor, the great Anna Heartfilia, and the burden she placed unto every Heartfilia descendant following until her mother gave her life to fulfill it. Despite that and her tendency towards curiosity, she chose to ignore Jude's side of the family tree. She never believed there was any reason not to.

For as long as Lucy could remember, she believed herself to be the only child of two deeply, fantastically in-love only children. Such belief had never been disputed—there were no talks of cousins or aunts and uncles—and birthdays, holidays, any and all occasions big and small—it had always been just her, her parents, and certain members of the staff. Once her mother passed away, it was just her and whichever household staff happened to be available at the time. No one had ever _lied_ to her but neither had they sought to correct her mistaken assumptions. And assumption it had been for while stories of her parents' pasts as members of Love and Lucky, as well as their relationship, were numerous whilst her mother lived, not a single word of other family members were mentioned. Her mother might speak of adventures she had before joining a merchant guild and even some after but such tales starred only herself, her spirits, and later, her father.

Jude Heartfilia, on the other hand, would smile at his only child when she asked for tales about his adventures ("like mama's," she would say, brown eyes glittering with anticipation) and merely respond that he had none. Not a minute later and upon seeing her expression fall into an almost sulky pout, he would share a glance with his wife, laugh, and pick her up, swinging her in the air until her stomach hurt from laughter and her throat stung with happy squeals. Then he would settle her on his lap and launch into her favorite story: that of Jude and Layla Heartfilia, who met (she was the hero to his damsel in distress) and then fell so irrevocably in love that what was meant to be a months-long journey with her mother laughingly escorting her father to Love and Lucky turned into her mother retiring from life as a wandering mage and joining Jude at his guild.

To her, that was the crux of the identities of her parents and nothing was going to change it. Not the mechanical shell Jude became following the loss of Layla and certainly not the revelation that her Heartfilia heritage descended from her mother's line. Though rare, amongst the aristocracy and ancient families—who, to be fair, comprised a good chunk of the aristocracy—it was not unheard of for a husband to take his wife's family name upon marriage if she came from the more prestigious lineage. And the Heartfilias certainly had lineage, even if the stature of their name was purposefully pushed into obscurity over the centuries until two cash-strapped lovers decided to bring it back to prominence for their precious daughter and any following children.

Really, she ought to have known something was amiss.

After all, her first encounter with her father after denouncing the position as Heartfilia heiress made his lack of common sense when it came to the price of goods and services painfully obvious but she failed to think much of it. Well, beyond the initial shock that anyone could possibly think a hundred thousand jewels to be the cost of a train ticket. To think, he once helmed one of the largest railway companies in the country!

Upon reflection, she should have been more focused on that and less on getting him to leave her alone. At the time, she chalked it up to the privileges of wealth, remembering her own astonishment the first time she had to fend for herself and discovered money was not readily available nor in near-infinite supply. Sure she had known such common-sense facts mentally but having been raised amongst such opulence and wealth as hers and never wanting for anything materially made economizing and knowing the value of a jewel more an idea than practice. Running away had been eye-opening in so many ways.

For the first time, she was outside the walls of the Konzern on her own and without the restraining presence of someone on her father's payroll. Having to depend solely on herself forced her to discover just how sheltered she had really been. She only thought she was a reasonably frugal person who understood the value of a jewel until the sudden threat of not having showed her just how far from it she really was. Being raised the heavily sheltered and protected princess within the bounds of the Heartfilia Konzern, an estate larger than many villages and several towns and which was largely self-sufficient, and raised to run a household and handle a business empire taught her the theories and merits of economy but leaving it all behind forced her to practice it. Making money when it was readily available was easy—making money without the extra expendable capital was an entirely different story, especially once she realized the savings she had would only go so far when she suddenly had to pay for housing, utilities and groceries. The time she always supposed would be available to establish a steady stream of income while she trained her magic vanished as reality set in and she scrambled to find jobs she could accept despite her lack of proper training, experience, or relevant schooling. She was a highly-educated person but in all the wrong fields for her situation and with no experience to speak of. It turned out being groomed to become the wealthy heir-producing wife of a business magnate was not a skill in high demand. It had been a harsh but much needed reality check.

One, she ought to have realized, her father should not have needed if he came from a poor background as she believed. A reminder may have been warranted in such a case but no matter how one looked at it, a hundred thousand jewels was a large amount—and as a fee for a train ride the length of a day's walk, it was exorbitant. Unless, that is, one was raised amongst the splendor of the most ridiculous wealth where money was simply always there in ready and constantly replenishing supply and price never needed to be given. As wealthy as the Heartfilias had been, even she knew what generally fell within the realm of reasonable when it came to the prices and rates of goods and services, though that may have had to do more with her mother's influence as well as what she heard and learned from the household staff of the Konzern.

Still, despite all the clues and hints suggesting something more to her father than simply having been an impoverished man who managed to make it big before losing it all again, nothing could have prepared Lucy to learn before Jude Heartfilia, there had been Judicas Fiore, second Prince of Fiore, the present King's younger brother who had long since disappeared into obscurity and was more widely known as the "Lost Prince."

Lucy snorted just as the train pulled into Magnolia Station— _'lost,'_ she thought, _'if only they knew.'_

* * *

Returning home to an empty apartment had been a pleasant surprise but the telltale signs of an apartment that had obviously been lived in during the week she was gone was not. Judging by the empty cupboards, the messy state of her bed, and some new scratches decorating her walls, Natsu and Happy had clearly taken it upon themselves to house-sit for her. The ice that prevented her from opening her fridge suggested Gray had dropped by and hopefully (she could think of no other reason for the devil slayer to freeze her fridge, locking everyone—herself included—out of it) stopped Natsu from emptying the fridge whilst the hilt of a small sword jutting from the slightly warped and definitely scorched floor by her sofa suggested Erza had dropped by and likely caught them at some point. Since she only recently changed her locks and refused to give Mira a copy of the key (the silver-headed barmaid, Lucy discovered after the guild reformed, had a poor habit of making copies and handing her keys out to her guild mates, in particular her team), she was not surprised the locks were exactly as she had left it—very few in the guild appeared to understand the concept of locking up and surprise appearances by fellow guild mates letting themselves in dramatically dropped after her lock change. However, there was simply no keeping her team out and exiting through her front door was a foreign concept that actually once made Natsu laugh, genuinely believing she had made a joke. Erza was too busy hunting for smutty novels she was convinced Lucy had hidden somewhere (apparently, Lucy's choice in panties meant she must have a golden collection of smut) to even pretend to listen to what Lucy said and Gray had cocked his head as if confused.

"Do you enter and leave your place through the fireplace or grate?" Lucy had asked him, exasperated.

"Nooo," admitted the ice mage slowly and Lucy was ready to cheer, certain she had finally gotten through to one of her teammates, "I don't have one."

It was almost comical how quickly Lucy deflated as Gray looked at her as if she was the strange one.

Shaking the memory away, Lucy quickly unpacked and cleaned up before settling into her bed. It was early and while some had already risen for the day, many had yet to stir. Lucy was able to sleep on the train but truly, there was nothing like sleeping in one own's bed. Cocooned in her blanket, Lucy turned to her side and attempted to curl out, letting out a content sigh as she began to fall into what she knew was likely to be her last truly restful sleep in a long while.

* * *

Makarov Dreyar, for all his silly antics and tendency towards overindulgence—in drink and his guild—was not a stupid man. One full week had passed since Lucy's unexpected summons forced him to tell her teammates she was being sent on a mission to—where was it? Oh right! —watch after an incontinent old dog while its master, an old friend of his, was away for a week or two on a little boating expedition. Natsu, whose desire to go after his friend was only slightly diminished upon learning what incontinent meant, was sufficiently convinced to remain at the guild by the thought of picking up after a dog while battling motion sickness. Master thoughtfully chose not to correct Natsu's belief that the dog, and thus Lucy, would be on a boat. Dissuading her team from following after Lucy was easy—as was keeping them distracted from thinking too deeply about his admittedly poor story.

A couple of calls had Erza being requested to judge in a baking contest for a three-day strawberry festival. Makarov made sure to mention though the town was only a half day's travel by train, there were a few small villages out of the path of the railways that master recalled to have some of the best desserts he had ever had the privilege of tasting. Erza left, eyes gleaming and determined that she would become the best judge at the festival as it was no less than what the various strawberry desserts deserved. The only way to accomplish this, she concluded, was by sampling various strawberry desserts during her travels so no dessert might come across her palate that she was not already familiar with. Truly, that was the most difficult part of distracting Lucy's team—Natsu and Gray were more than capable of keeping each other distracted and Happy followed Natsu. Albeit, after three days of relentless brawls and damages, he pulled Juvia aside to congratulate her for behaving so maturely despite Natsu and Gray's "deep feelings" towards one another while his grandson and Gajeel simultaneously choked on their guffaws.

He quickly regretted doing so. The near immediate end to Natsu and Gray's constant fights (for a brief moment, Juvia looked lost in a different world, her face almost lecherous), and then his amusement, came at cost. There was torrential rain in and out of doors and flooding—oh, so much flooding!—that led to warped wood, broken glasses, a repair bill higher than had he left Natsu and Gray alone and the general mayhem that came with naturally rowdy mages discovering a portion of their alcohol supply fell victim to master's trolling. Thankfully, Fairy Tail was ever vigilant over their alcohol and much of their stash and supplies remained safe thanks to purchasing by the barrel, proper sealing and, as it turned out, multiple layers of barriers, ruins, wards, and other spells various guild members were independently responsible for. Master gave a great shout of relief at the discovery for he was certain it was the only reason the guild remained unscathed and civil. Well, generally civil as Juvia had taken to sweeping Natsu away in a dizzying torrent of water that usually left a trail of devastation and soggy, displeased wizards behind.

The one and only time Laxus was caught in the path of Juvia's campaign to keep Natsu away from her Gray-sama, his amusement at his grandfather's actions dissipated and he ended things by loudly announcing to Juvia Master Makarov did not mean Natsu and Gray were romantically entangled. Juvia was caught off guard but immediately apologized profusely to master for even thinking he was talking about boy's love (and Makarov was not the only one thinking Juvia looked slightly sad at the thought) while Gray and Natsu, once passed their initial shock, accused each other of putting strange ideas in the master's head and locked horns (and powers) once more. All in all, it was business as usual in the guild and the hardest thing Makarov had to deal with that week was not knowing why Lucy had been called away and when she would be back. Her team would only prove to be difficult if the following week came and went with no sign or word from the blonde.

Unfortunately, it was the calm before the ever-looming storm.

The problem with Celestial Mages, Sting and Makarov both agreed during one of the many guild master meetings where both may have imbibed in a liberal amount of alcohol, was that people with evil intentions tended to want them for one reason or another. Yukino, Master learned one night, was never allowed to go on lone missions as of all the Sabertooth mages, the percentage of false requests for her was the highest. To date, she had never been kidnapped (well, unless one counted how Sting and Rogue came to meet her the first time but that was before Sting was master so ignored) but Sabertooth's young master was fairly certain it was only a matter of time—unless, he once joked, Lucy could continue being so obliging and continue serving as prime kidnapping bait. The concussion the blond guild master had when he regained consciousness two days later had him spitting nonsense for several days (which must have been the norm as his guild failed to notice any difference) but Makarov couldn't help and reflect upon his words.

Lucy had an unfortunate habit of being kidnapped or targeted for one nefarious reason or another and the Royals were not innocent from such acts. In fact, Bob had warned Makarov after the Eclipse Gate fiasco about the seeming allure of Celestial mages, revealing Karen Lilica also received her share of false requests, the last of which successfully lured her to her death. While specific requests for members of the guild were commonly scrutinized by either himself or Mira, Bob's warning and fact that in a very short span of time, Lucy had nearly been sacrificed to some giant clock and then arrested in order to gain access to her keys had Master pouring through requests specifically asking for Lucy or a Celestial Mage following the games. Several were perverse, a couple seemed suspicious and warranted further investigation, and one was obviously a fake.

He had been upset but willing to believe it was just a mix of a poorly-thought of prank and the leftover hype of the Grand Magic games—until he sent Laxus and Gajeel to separately investigate the two suspicious requests and learned only Gajeel's was legitimate though there was no need for a Celestial Mage (Gajeel took all of twenty minutes to find the culprits—a group of kids, a recorder, and a lack of common sense—ten of which was spent with the slayer in the face of the mayor for "lookin' at his cat all funny!"). Laxus had returned the same day he left, carrying with him a couple of bound dark mages wannabes that had been waiting for Lucy (needless to say, Laxus was not amused at the idea of being mistaken for Lucy) in the supposedly troubled town. It _had_ been troubled—by said dark mages wannabes—but no requests had been sent since even the non-magical residents of the town found the culprits to be more an annoyance than danger. Lucy easily could have handled the two men but they were symbolic of the larger problem. To date, Lucy was the only non-S-class mage whose mission requests had to be verified as authentic by Master or Laxus before anyone else was allowed to know of its existence.

A request from the Royals, however, could not be denied, regardless of whether or not they held ill intentions. Makarov truly did not believe they did—had he, he would never have let Lucy travel alone even if it was a direct order. Still, each day that passed without Lucy's return had him growing more anxious and wondering why he allowed Lucy to go despite his reservations. All he could do was inform Laxus and have him, his team, and various contacts keep an ear out for any word of trouble concerning the Royal family, celestial magic, or anything remotely celestial-related. He was unsure whether or not to be relieved that there were no reports of anything being amiss. It could be good news or it could mean whatever Lucy was being involved in by the Royals was being kept on an absolutely need to know basis and in Makarov's experience, that was both the worst case scenario and the most likely.

"—ster? Master?" The sound of a female voice near him broke Fairy Tail's master from his thoughts and he spun around to see the subject of his thoughts standing before him. His brows immediately shot up as he gave a large grin. "Lucy! Welcome home, child." He greeted warmly, genuinely pleased.

"Thank you, Master." Lucy was currently ignoring Natsu's eager attempt to fill her in on what she had missed that week (looking remarkably like an overly-excited puppy nipping at the heels of its newly returned master) and absentmindedly petting Happy who, Makarov noted with some jealousy, had buried his face in the girl's ample chest as he hugged her. Casting a quick glance at Natsu, Happy, and then the rest of the guild, Master smiled and jumped from his seat.

"I trust your mission went well?"

"As well as expected, Master." Lucy replied somewhat warily, casting a side glance at the still chattering Natsu and then down towards the blue cat who was complaining about how Gray froze something, keeping him from the fish he hid there.

"Natsu, Happy," Master barked, "Leave Lucy alone. Lucy can learn all this later—right now, I want to hear all about my friend and how he's doing. Lucy, child, come to my office." Besides a slight raise of a brow at the mention of his friend, Lucy gave no indication to being confused. Instead, she turned to Natsu and promised to spend the rest of the day with him, then patted Happy as she promised him she had not touched his fish at all and would talk to Gray about melting the ice around her fridge. Frankly, Makarov was not entirely sure what they were talking about but it appeased the dragon slayer and his exceed so he chose not to dwell on it.

"Bye Lushee, I'm so glad you don't really smell like dog poo!" Happy's smile was closer to a smirk.

"Oh, right, Luce! I forgot you had to watch a dog's butt all week!" Natsu exclaimed out loud, earning several curious looks their way. Lucy spluttered but was not given the chance to reply as Master shooed the two away and gestured that Lucy follow him to his office.

"Apologies, child, I will explain later. Now, what was it the King wanted?" He wasn't expecting too much information—he was old and wise enough to know better, especially with politics in play—but he was not expecting almost no information.

"They need me to go on a mission—a trip, really. But it's dangerous and no one knows how long it will take. It could be a month, several months, up to a year."

"A trip? Where? To do what? How dangerous? Who else will be going?"

"It's…" here, Lucy paused as if deep in thought. "I'm sorry, Master, but I don't believe I'm allowed to tell you. They weren't happy you had to know I was meeting with them and everything must be done quietly. I can bring a partner but The King will decide what they can know."

Makarov sat back in his seat, looking at the calm blonde before him and reflecting on her time at the guild. More than anyone else at Fairy Tail, she had changed in ways he could not quite put into words. The year apart after Tartaros and then the War with Alvarez had left its mark on everyone. He was not blind to the ways his brats had changed and matured and was immensely pleased and proud of who and what they were and had become. His heart felt like bursting as he thought of all of them—except, perhaps, the blonde. Oh, he was proud, certainly. Lucy Heartfilia had grown into an even more capable mage and though he had seen proof of her skills as a fighter, he could sense more power in her than she had yet displayed. She remained kind-hearted, greeting everyone and as quick as she was to smile at her guild mates, she was even quicker to offer her help. Upon resuming his position as Master of Fairy Tail, he had been stunned to learn Lucy had essentially become the guild's bookkeeper and financial adviser. That she had been trained in administrative work, raised to serve as the actual show-runner hiding behind a figurehead of a large company, had not actually been known to him until then. Like many, he simply assumed she had been raised to serve as a broodmare—which, technically, she had. Just a very smart and capable broodmare with a particular hobby.

No, that was not what made him falter in his praise of the girl. It was the wariness he occasionally sensed in her, a feeling of distance between her and the guild, including her own teammates even if no amount of observation yielded actual proof. There was something about her that seemed so fundamentally different even if no one could pinpoint what it was or how it had changed and it worried Makarov to see the girl pull herself away from the guild even as she stood in the midst of it and went about like she once did. At times, he swore she was angry—no, seething—but then he would blink and suddenly she was laughing or teasing someone, or giving Natsu a playful shove as he slung an arm around her while convincing her to accept some mission or other. Other times, she would be laughing or giggling and he would think his age was finally catching up to him only to look up and think the scene before him was somehow, staged, though for who he could not say.

"I don't like this," he said, abruptly, and was startled by his own voice. He had not meant to voice his thought. It was just as well as truly, he did not like this, did not like anything surrounding the girl before him at the moment. The mysterious summons, the layers upon layers of secrecy—the Royal Family wasn't even trying to pretend this wasn't a huge secret—Lucy and her secrecy—a mission that could not be discussed or revealed, expected to last an unknown duration of time…it had all the makings of a trap and had the request or order come from anyone other than the Royal Family of Fiore, Makarov would have immediately refused to allow any member of his guild to partake.

"I know," Lucy's eyes and voice were vacant and for a second, he thought it might have been an imposter before him but the millisecond it took for his brain to tell his eyes to look again, it was Lucy with soft chocolate eyes seated in front of him. Letting out a deep sigh, Makarov let one arm rest on the chair as the other went up to scratch at the tufts of hair by his right temple. "I promise you, Master, if I thought I was incapable of completing the mission, I would have declined."

"Ah, gave you a choice did they, child?" His voice turned sour, "They better have after all we've done for them!"

"As much as any Royal could. Master…" Lucy ignored the latter half of his statement. "Master, I can't ask my team to join me." That was not what she actually wanted to say so Makarov remained silent and waited for her to gather her thoughts. "A lot will be expected from—and required of—my partner for the mission—of me. I…" For a long moment, only silence existed and Makarov was wondering if he might need to say something until Lucy finally continued. "I…I think I should do this alone."

That was _not_ what Makarov was expecting nor what he wanted to hear. Truthfully, he wanted to hear Lucy say she was going to decline the mission that sounded suspiciously like a trap and was sent by a duo that once imprisoned her for no reason save to gain her keys but knew that was unlikely. He would have settled for hearing her argue futilely why she should bring Natsu along—the boy may not be subtle but he had the uncanny ability to overcome anything thrown at him.

"It will be dangerous and the Royals were clearly not happy to have to involve me in this but I am the only one suited for the job. I don't want to put anyone else in any unnecessary danger." As Lucy continued blabbering—for that was all Makarov could hear as she spoke too quickly for him to be able to make out one word from the next—Makarov felt his brows furrow and his eyes narrow as anger and frustration began to bubble up in him. He hated feeling—being—helpless and right now, that was all he could think to describe himself.

The Royal family were definitely going to be on his shit list for this little stunt of theirs. Actually, they already were. Why did they have to involve one of _his_ brats? Shouldn't they have brought it to the magic council? Why Lucy (here, he ignored the voice that told him it was yet another Celestial Mage thing)? If it was as dangerous as Lucy implied it to be, shouldn't they be looking for someone else? They had an army at their beck and call—why couldn't they start beckoning? Lucy was strong, far stronger than he suspected she knew, but there were stronger mages in and out of the guild. There were better and stronger fighters, others more adept with magic or whose magic would allow them to easily transport out of trouble—

"Laxus."

"Huh?" Lucy wished she could say she reacted more eloquently. "What?"

"Laxus. You will take Laxus. He's strong—and if you tell the brat I said that, I'll give you _that_ punishment." Master nodded—Lucy still did not know what _that_ punishment was but thought it best not to mention it. "He's got a good head on his shoulders—usually. I'm sure that brat does most of the stupid things he does just to mess with me." Makarov had no proof of this but he liked to think it was the case, otherwise his brat was just an idiot. Selfless and a great man, but an idiot. One who swallowed _Magical Barrier Particles_ —it was just like that idiot to try to kill his grandfather by killing himself! "If you get into a tight situation—which he will do everything to avoid—" here, he silently let out an, _'I think,'_ followed by, _'that brat better or so help me, I'll have all the naked baby pictures of him published!'_ in his head, "and he can transform and travel as lightning." A short pause. "It's safe for him to travel with you that way too…I think."

"You _think?!_ " Lucy shrieked as images of her electrified body, still twitching and smoking, filled her mind.

"Well," Makarov chuckled, "anything's possible for a pretty lady. And if you can't…well, he's never done any _permanent_ harm to anyone with his powers. I can't tell you how many times he shocked Natsu as a child and Natsu turned out perfectly fine!"

Lucy said nothing, merely crossed her arms and raised a brow as if to say, "Seriously?!" and Makarov let out a nervous chuckle. That was a look that set all sorts of alarms blaring in a man's head and warned him to tread cautiously lest he find himself tossed out in the snow, naked save one sock and a jester hat that somehow made everything worse.

"You should have seen him before," Master said and felt that was sufficient. Turning serious, "You will not be doing this mission—one, I might remind you, you won't even tell me, your _guild master_ about—" he took a sort of perverse pleasure that she had the grace to look guilty, "and that you state to be very dangerous, _alone_. Laxus is the only suitable choice." When Lucy looked as if she was ready to argue, he stopped her with a look. "Who else would you choose?"

He knew he had her and _she_ knew he had her. Still, she took the time to think.

Though not classed, this was clearly a mission that would require the strength and mentality of an S-class mage at minimum. Lucy could not ask anyone outside the guild—the strongest people she knew who had to best chance of surviving whatever might be encountered on this journey were part of Fairy Tail. Though unsaid, it was evident the Royal Family expected her to bring along an S-class mage but she was having difficulty swallowing the fact that one of her guild mates would be placed in danger because of her— _again_.

In truth, there were only two mages Lucy thought met all the qualifications for this mission. Unfortunately, Erza was immediately struck out—not only was she part of Lucy's team (thus, increasing the likelihood Natsu and/or Gray would attempt to follow, compromising the entire mission) but her immediate response on missions generally involved lots of shiny pointy weapons. It was important to draw as little attention as possible during this journey and people generally remembered being threatened by a bunch of swords that seemingly appeared from thin air. Mira was crossed out even sooner than Erza—even had the Royal Family ordered she take Mira, Lucy would have balked at the thought of separating Mira from her siblings for an unspecified period of time, especially since she couldn't promise Mira would return safely. Although more than capable and amongst the strongest people she knew, like Erza, this mission was simply not one the take-over demon mage was fit to take and Lucy knew spending an extended period of time with either women as she would on the mission would lead to her eventually breaking and revealing everything.

That left Laxus and Gildarts, the latter of whom was…somewhere. Honestly, Gildarts really could be anywhere as he was easily sidetracked. And Laxus…

Well, Lucy's only argument against him was that she couldn't imagine him not drawing attention, except that he was surprisingly stealthy and a good number of her interactions with him involved the phrase, "Oh! Hi Laxus, I didn't see you there!"

Lucy signaled her defeat with a sigh and the slightest drop of her shoulders.

Makarov was grim. "When do you leave?"

"I have a week to get everything settled and packed. Once I tell the Royal family who my partner will be, they'll make arrangements for our trip and give us more information. There are some things they will be giving us to help us on the way but they insisted on giving it to us together."

"A week," Makarov echoed and though plenty of his brats came and went with only days in between missions, the missions themselves were short. "A week," he nodded once, hoping his smile appeared more reassuring than he felt. "Well," he began cheerily, "That isn't a lot of time to say your goodbyes. Why don't you go down and spend some time with your team—they've missed you this last week. I'll tell Laxus and you two can talk tomorrow." As he spoke, he stood and began ushering Lucy out of his office. Instead of shutting the door behind her, he followed her out, feeling as if there was something he had forgotten. "For now, you just got back after a week and," here, he paused, looking over the railing to the first floor, "Listen up you brats!" he roared, "One of you brats _finally_ did something well enough that an employer actually called me with compliments. Lucy here earned raves from her last mission!" Pausing as he tried to remember what he claimed said mission to be, Makarov drew a blank so instead chose to end the impromptu announcement Fairy Tail style. "Mira, drinks all 'round! This is something to celebrate!"

Whatever puzzlement the rest of the guild had concerning his original announcement was immediately forgotten. Lucy made her way to the first floor amidst cheers and the clinking of glasses. Natsu greeted her with an enthusiastic thumb up in between helpings of fire chicken. Erza, she learned, was not yet back from a mission but was expected later that day or sometime the next.

"Nice job, Lucy," Gray greeted, for all intents and purposes pleased but bewildered.

"Everything okay, Gray?" Lucy wondered.

"Y…yeah….just—never mind," with a shake of his head, the ice mage grinned and clearly decided whatever had been on his mind was unimportant. "Good to have you back Lucy—don't worry, I'll drop by later to fix your fridge." Lucy was just about to thank him when she felt a dark shadow creep up behind her.

"Thanks—hi Juvia!" She finished speaking before turning around to face the slightly crazed-looking bluenette.

"Love rival!" As she slipped back into a familiar routine, Lucy could almost believe the past week had been nothing more than vivid dream.

"Lushee…." She looked down to see Happy pulling at the top of her boots, thrusting a large salmon in her face.

"Yes Happy?"

"Look at the big salmon Master told Mira to get me!" Lucy was about to congratulate Happy on such a fine salmon (she really didn't know what made one salmon better than another but it seemed important to Happy) when he opened his mouth again just as Master Makarov arrived at the bar, ready to join the party and drink to his heart's content. "Ne, Lushee, you should wipe a dog's butt every day. Then I can get lots of big fish!" Lucy stilled, then turned to glare at Master Makarov who had frozen with his beer halfway up to his mouth, waiting to hear his reply.

"Heh...heh?"


	3. Chapter 2

**_Chapter Two_**

* * *

 _"We are Grieved to place such a Burden upon Your Shoulders but place it We Must. Whatever We can do to ease Your Way need only be asked. Understand We Cannot Do All We Ought but We Shall Do What We May. If You are found, however, Know We Cannot Help. You Must Depend upon Yourself and One Other, for We are not Heartless and Shall Allow You a Companion—a Champion—of Your Choosing."_

* * *

The bang of the heavy oak door shutting—roughly though not an outright slam—behind Laxus was lost amongst the soundtrack that others might consider a Fairy Tail party but what anyone familiar with the famous guild would know to be just another Fairy Tail evening. Idly, Laxus wondered what was wrong with him that the sounds of brawls, wood scraping against wood as glass shattered (he made a mental note to again suggest replacing their glass with plastic the next time Gramps made him and Mira do inventory—shattered glass being an "authentic" Fairy Tail experience be damned), and cackling laughter amongst cheers, some boos, and not-so-encouraging encouragements –heckling, really—was the closest feeling to home he knew. He blamed his shitty pops for being so, well, shitty, at the parenting thing and his gramps for thinking an unfiltered Fairy Tail was in any way a normal environment to raise a sickly child. Okay, maybe gramps wasn't the best parenting figure around but he beat out the shitty pops (though considering who raised said shitty pops, maybe that was better put as testament against Makarov's notoriously loose parenting style).

Speaking of loose parenting style…

Orange eyes scanned the crowd below to spot the only other blonde in the guild. Thick brows shot up at the sight of a table of blondes (and one pink-head) though keen eyesight showed only one was natural. Amidst what was apparently a blonde-wigged group sat Lucy Heartfilia, the one person in the entire guild Laxus thought could give Natsu a run for his money in the trouble department. The difference, of course, was that while Natsu created and relished in trouble and destruction, the Celestial Mage did her best to avoid it but had the misfortune of serving as a magnet for crazy. It was probably the reason why she and Natsu got on so well and why Team Natsu was so overly and unhealthily attached to her. Having overheard a brief overview of her ancestor's plans with Zeref and having rejected numerous suspicious requests for the blonde, Laxus suspected Lucy's innate trouble-attracting skills were half-genetic, fifteen percent the result of having some connection to Zeref (which, really, could be traced back to genetics), fifteen percent the result of being a Celestial Mage, which gramps had given him to understand automatically came with a huge shiny, jewels-encrusted target sign on your back, ten percent Fairy Tail mage, and ten percent shitty luck.

He suspected it was the last thirty-five percent responsible for the hours of curse-filled conversations he shared with his gramps for much of the day. Frankly, Laxus thought his suggestion of telling the Royal Family to go fuck themselves had more merit than was given but despite reservations, the oldest Dreyar was adamant that Lucy go on this mission and Laxus accompany her. Both because the mission allowed for two mages and because no one else was qualified and knew just how much danger lurked and attempted to ensnare the oblivious blonde. Laxus was additionally under orders by Makarov to figure out what the Royal Family had up their sleeves for their guildmate though both suspected Lucy already knew. If only the girl had a proper sense of self-preservation, Laxus might feel some relief at the knowledge.

Feeling eyes on him, Laxus turned his attention to pink-framed blue eyes staring at him from its position next to the blonde subject of his thoughts. He couldn't place a name to the face but knew the pink-haired maid to be one of Lucy's spirits, the one who had unexpectedly popped up from the floor beneath Bickslow (causing the large man, who had been teasing the blonde with innuendos regarding her whip, to let out a hilarious shriek, both legs—and hands— wrapping tightly around the spirit's head at the unexpected loss of balance) while his babies scattered in five different directions. The spirit nonchalantly offered Lucy a cat o nine tails, unmindful of the seith mage clinging to her face. Lucy, however, was not and not even dragon slayer eyes could see the moment her muscles began to contract as she sent Bickslow flying from her spirit with a Lucy Kick that managed to dislodge his hold on the pinkette without actually touching or harming the spirit. Faster than anyone could blink, the Celestial Mage had grabbed the cat o nine from her spirit's hand and was menacingly smacking its handle to the butt of her palm in front of the barely conscious seith mage as she warned him against acting inappropriately with any of her spirits. The lightning dragon slayer could have sworn that, behind her master, the pinkette actually pouted at the time.

But she was not pouting now. Laxus considered himself reasonably good at reading a person, a snotty rebellious phase he'd rather not think about notwithstanding, but he got nothing from the emotionless spirit studying him before she turned to face her master and said something, a hand coming up to point a finger in his direction.

The Lightning Mage couldn't hear what the spirit said over the cacophony that was Fairy Tail but it was evident she spoke of him to his fellow (natural) blonde. Whatever she said drew the attention of the entire table who turned, as one, to face him. A platinum-blonde Cana broke into a grin even while Lucy shook her head at her spirit, evidently answering her in the negative.

"Oi, Laaaaxus! What're yous doin' ova theeeerrr?" The drunken card mage slurred, "Come plaaaay!"

"Juvia thinks if Laxus-san is invited to join, Gray-sama should be too!"

"No, no men!" A sword-wielding strawberry-blonde Erza made a decisive slice in the air with her weapon. Fortunately, it was Levy next to her and though the petite bluenette—dirty blonde now—ducked, there was no need as the sword struck a clear half foot above her. "We are here to allow Virgo to properly experience a slumber party and pillow fight. We shall enjoy the festivities here then leave for Fairy Hills to create girlhood memories we shall always cherish. There will be no males to ruin our innocent maiden experience or taint our memories!" The last bit was growled out as the Titania sent a death glare towards a group of sulking men that included the likes of Macao and Wakaba.

"No fun," Cana murmured, clearly audible in the now silent guild (no one, but no one, dared speak when Erza was making a declaration, no matter how ridiculous) while Mira (who, despite her normal silver locks, looked incredibly odd as a bleached blonde) pouted.

"But the babies…" she whined, index fingers twiddling together as her sister comforted her.

Honestly, Laxus _didn't_ want to know. Ocher eyes scanned the group of girls, unamused, before landing on anxious chocolate eyes. His scowl deepened and he saw, rather than heard, the Celestial Mage let out an "eep!" as she appeared to try and curl into herself. One metal-gauntlet hand on her shoulder had her immediately looking up, a bright (too bright, too… _fake_ ) smile on her face. Whatever she said to Erza was too low for him to hear from this distance but it seemed to please the natural red-head who turned to face the rest of the table.

"Ladies, let us finish here and then commence to the Slumber Party." Raising a fist in the air, one foot sturdily against the floor while the other rested on the table top, Erza let out a battle cry. "To the cake!" A chorus of cheers rose from the table, one lone, "and the booze!" slurred out in between. Laxus blinked as suddenly, Asuka was in Erza's arms, cheering just as loudly as the older females.

Did she? Did Erza just _pluck_ Asuka from her—?

No…no way. Laxus shook his head. There was absolutely no way he just saw what he thought he did. Sure the guild had its share of busty mages but no one was so busty as to allow a _child_ to hide between their bosoms. Plus Laxus was sure Bisca would have some words about that. No, Laxus had to have been seeing things. Putting the thought out of his mind (but filing it away for future perusal), the guild-master in training watched as it seemed a horde of girls stampeded all at once to the bar while Mira and Kinana disappeared into the kitchen. When they reappeared, it was with what appeared to be several multi-layered cakes. One was set before Erza while the others were divided amongst the rest of the girls.

Gramps said he was supposed to talk to Lucy about the mission today—well, tonight, given the time—but it was evident that would not be happening. Meeting Lucy's gaze, he let out an irritated breath as the girl sent him a nervous smile and small wave while the spirit beside her merely cocked her head, as if examining Laxus. He felt a buildup of magic, oddly enough both beside him and closer to Lucy and was on guard instantly. There was no possible way anyone could know about their upcoming team up, right? No one was seriously going to try and attack them at the guild, surely?

"Easy, Lightbulb," came the voice of Fairy Tail's celestial spirit member. Downstairs at the bar, another pinkette had appeared in a puff of smoke, heralded by the sound of a doorbell and an, "I'm sorry!"

Laxus grunted his greeting to the lion spirit, keeping an eye on the Celestial Mage and her two spirits below. "Why're you here, furball?"

"Well that's just rude," Loke huffed, but leaned against the railing beside Laxus anyway. "So you're going with her, huh?" Keeping an eye on Lucy and his two fellow spirits below, Loke sent a side glance at the behemoth of a man beside him. A shrug and disinterested grunt was all he received but it was not as if he didn't already know the answer. He allowed the silence between them to settle for several minutes, a small but genuine smile curving his lips as he watched Virgo's eyes light up when Lucy wiped some frosting on the earthen spirit's nose while Aries went cross-eyed when the same was done to her.

"You gonna tell me what's going on?" Surprisingly, it was Laxus who broke the silence. Loke didn't answer but let out a deep sigh as he leaned further against the railing, resting his chin on both hands. "That bad, huh?"

"I'm not entirely sure I know," Loke confessed, voice somber as his eyes focused entirely on his laughing blonde keyholder.

"You don't _know_?!"

"Contrary to popular belief," Loke glared at Laxus from the corner of his eyes, "we don't spend our entire time in the Celestial World spying on Lucy or everyone here. We know only what Lucy wants us to know—well, most of us." Loke amended, thinking of the Southern Cross who essentially knew everything but was forbidden from sharing said knowledge without the proper authorization. Unfortunately, in this case, the grandfatherly spirit was unable to tell the rest of Lucy's spirits anything. He had a feeling Layla's former spirits knew but none had confided in him. Cancer merely snapped his scissors in answer and Loke, Zodiac leader or not, was _not_ going question someone with lightning-quick reflexes, an infinite supply of sharp objects and impeccable aim borne from thousands of years of patience and practice. Capricorn was…well, _Capricorn_. Beyond increasingly long meetings with the Celestial King, the old goat showed no evidence of acknowledging Loke's question, choosing instead to read his latest poetry attempts out loud for Loke's (never-given because Loke never stayed to hear the whole thing) input. And then there was Aquarius…she _had_ to know, if the random curses and sudden flash floods in the other world was anything to go by but Aquarius had been in a terrible mood—worse than usual—since ordering Lucy to break her key and only the Celestial King and Scorpio was exempt from her temper. When Loke first approached her following the return of the Celestial King to their world, Aquarius had glared at him and then…

Loke shuddered and mentally put up more concrete, steel and rebar-enforced walls around that memory.

Laxus let out a muttered curse under his breath and Loke bit back a smile. At least with the monstrous Lightning Dragon Slayer with them, he could breathe a little easier about Lucy's safety…just a little. "So you don't know _any_ thing?"

Raising a brow at the gruff dragon slayer, Loke allowed a smirk to color his tone. "Oh, I know _some_ things…" he trailed off, voice serious as he turned to face Laxus fully, all traces of mirth gone. "Like the fact that Lucy doesn't want you—or anyone—to go."

"Already knew that," Laxus grunted, annoyed. Who the hell did Lucy Heartfilia think she was, planning on going on a mission on her own when even Happy could figure out the mission was obviously dangerous and very likely a trap? Laxus didn't care how much stronger she was compared to before, she was a part of Fairy Tail and he'd be damned if he let her or any of his fellow guildmates place themselves in unnecessary danger without any backup.

"No, you don't." Loke argued with a bitter smile as he reached a hand up to adjust his sunglasses (who the fuck wore sunglasses indoors at night?!) and lowered his voice, making it so even Laxus strained to hear him. Given the presence of slayers downstairs, it was a wise move, Laxus acknowledged as the lion constellation continued speaking. "Lucy _hates_ being alone."

Again, Laxus grumbled. Everyone knew that—hell, it was one of the original reasons so many in the guild would unexpectedly drop in on the petite blonde when she first joined Fairy Tail. Her company and the apparent "snuggly wuggly cozy cocoony" (Ever's somewhat drunken words, not his…well, she went into a lot more detail about cocoons and emerging a beautiful fairy…or something, Laxus had tuned her out by that point) she called an apartment was what kept the guild returning again and again, unwittingly disturbing the blonde's peace.

"Lucy hates being alone," Loke continued choosing to ignore Laxus, " _hates_ it." He stressed, as if Laxus ought to understand anything from having that fact repeated. It was obvious he didn't and Loke sighed, exasperated (truthfully, Laxus was itching to punch the stupid playboy in the face and was sure his tenuous hold on self-control would slip if the spirit continued dragging out this conversation unnecessarily) before massaging the bridge of his nose just between his eyes. "Lucy hates being alone," he repeated, "so why would she rather go on this mission alone?"

 _That_ was but one of the multitude of questions Laxus had for the pretty blonde mage. Sure she told his gramps she didn't want to place anyone else in danger but that was a piss poor excuse as far as the Thunder God was concerned. His gramps may have bought the excuse but _he_ didn't and wouldn't. Already he had come up with—and discarded—several theories and hypothesis regarding the blonde's reasons but found no matter how much he discounted it, there was one idea he kept circling back to. It must have shown on his face somehow because Loke closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

"You know, don't you?"

"Say it," Laxus growled lowly. Whatever his theories, they were just that—ideas about a fellow guildmate who, truthfully, Laxus was not particularly close to and did not know nearly as well as the immortal man before him. He could take any information he had concerning the blonde and create a hypothesis no one could argue with but it would never be _real_ unless someone who knew the girl said it, acknowledged it. Laxus truly hoped the celestial spirit would say nothing.

The spirit in question looked pained, letting out a bitter chuckle as his eyes looked away to find his keyholder.

"You know," the lion's voice was flat, eyes blank, "we—her spirits—use to pray the guild would reform when you split up. For a time, we thought if Fairy Tail would come together again, it would fix everything…goodness knows whatever _we_ did, we couldn't. And then Natsu pops up and decides to reform Fairy Tail and we thought, _yes_! Yes, _finally_! this must be what she was waiting for, what she needed. And she said _no_."

That fact _had_ surprised Laxus when he first heard it, when the guild was still only just getting back together and before it was official. He and the Raijinshou, like the rest of the guild, all received Lucy's letter announcing plans to rebuild the guild and asking everyone to meet at the site of its former building. When they arrived, nearly all the members of the guild were there—but notably, the blonde responsible for their coming together was absent. Natsu had loudly complained that she turned him down about joining him as he set about getting the guild back together, saying she would help but likely wouldn't arrive and officially rejoin Fairy Tail until after everything was official. At the time, Laxus thought little of it as Gray made a snide remark concerning Lucy possibly being turned off the guild by Natsu which led to a fight which rapidly grew into a traditional Fairy Tail free-for-all and Laxus had just been so damn happy to experience some semblance of _normal_ again, it was easy to push his curiosity away.

"When she decided it was time to return, we knew things would be different. How could they not be? But we had hoped…" Loke trailed off and Laxus thought he tasted salt in the air for a second before it vanished. "Nothing was the same. Everyone was different— _she_ was different." Shaking his head, as if the act could shake away his melancholy thoughts, the Zodiac leader turned to his fellow guildmate with whom he once shared something akin a lopsided rivalry. "Laxus, you know as Celestial Spirits, we are bound to our contracts with our keyholders." Taking the grunt Laxus made as an affirmative, Loke continued. "Whether we agree with them, we are bound— _compelled_ —to help them with their tasks so long as it is within our contracts or they do nothing to erode our trust in them. Sometimes, what they wish is for us to not interfere, for us to remain in the Celestial World."

Laxus hadn't considered that idea and raised a curious brow.

"You understand, don't you? There may be times we Spirits wish to protect Lucy but are unable to, either because she will not let us or because she truly does not wish for us to be there. If, during this mission, anything should happen and We fail to show up—on our own powers or hers—you _have_ to be there for her, to protect and keep her safe in our place."

"Why wouldn't she want you there?" Laxus licked his too dry lips and found his tongue was dry as well and instead of moistening his lips, it merely stuck to it.

Loke didn't take his eyes away from his master as she laughed at something Levy said while carefully maneuvering away from Evergreen and her fan.

"Loke…" it was a warning growl.

"Would _you_ want your friends there if you decided to kill yourself?"

* * *

Lucy had barely just drifted off to sleep in her own bed the following morning when three swift knocks on her door jerked her back to reality. Unaccustomed as she was to the noise, it took several seconds to realize what the sound was and three additional knocks were made before she reached the door on shaky feet, her key pouch in hand.

"Laxus?!" The scowling visage of the dragon slayer—and her soon to be partner for the upcoming mission—was the last thing she expected to see upon opening the door though she supposed she should have expected it. After all, they did have much to talk about, to prepare for. If nothing else, she needed to give him a general idea of what the actual mission was.

"You gonna stand there all day or invite me in?" At his words, Lucy flushed and immediately stood off to the side, gesturing for the large man to enter her apartment and quickly scanning the hallway to make sure no one else was privy to her company. The last thing she wanted was any gossip regarding her and the lightning slayer or for her landlady—a scary woman with a surprising weakness for romance—to get any odd ideas in her head. Noting she was in the clear, she shut her door with a relieved sigh only to turn and have her nose brush against the far too close sternum of one Laxus Dreyar.

The man himself seemed unaware of just how close they were to one another, his eyes focused on Lucy's face as he searched for something Lucy could not know.

"You look like shit," he finally muttered, stepping back as he took in her wrinkled state, the bags beneath her eyes and the redness that lined it.

"Prince charming," Lucy snorted, rolling her eyes and swore for a second a smirk flitted across her fellow blonde's face. "The girls and I had a slumber party last night."

In truth, Lucy had merely mentioned her promise to Virgo for a pillow fight to Cana to let the brunette know not to try and find a way to sneak into her apartment. Since the "Change," which was what the guild called Lucy's lock change and subsequent refusal to give Mira a copy of her new keys, Cana had tried, and failed, numerous times to drunkenly enter Lucy's apartment and crawl into her bed (or her bath) and the few times she succeeded was because Virgo let her in. Virgo took a sort of sadistic pleasure, when Cana was around, of taking the card mage's alcohol and hiding it, as well as any alcohol in the vicinity of the card mage, in the Celestial Realm. Cana in turn tended to try and wrestle the (all too willing) spirit to submission to return her "babies" even though Lucy told her it was just what the spirit wanted and doing so would only encourage Virgo to continue collecting and hiding her alcohol. As a result, Cana recently made it a point not to try and enter Lucy's place when she knew the spirit was expected to be present.

What Lucy _ought_ to have known, and she mentally smacked herself for not thinking of it, was that Cana's reaction would be a loud, "Sweet! Slumber party!" which attracted the attention of those around them. A delighted squeal from Mira (who, like Cana and the rest of the girls and for reasons then unknown to but accepted anyway by Lucy, was currently sporting a blonde wig...the reason, it turned out, was to put to rest once and for all whether or not blondes had more fun), the hurt eyes of Levy and Wendy at the thought of not being invited, Erza's assumption of leadership for the slumber party Lucy was futilely explaining wasn't an actual slumber party so much as a small get together with her spirits, and then some odd zing of rivalry between Erza and Mira concerning some former match they needed to finish resulted in one exhausting night for Lucy. The pillow fight, and Erza, Mira's, and oddly enough, Virgo's participation in it—as well as Evergreen deciding this was her chance to avenge herself on Lucy for Mira's innuendos and the very real fear of Mira possibly slipping fertility drugs into her food—lasted until the early hours of the morning, especially once Aries was convinced to use her wool for the pillows and fortification.

Still, her spirits were extremely pleased, Virgo especially as the presence of so many other participants meant while she could make it so Lucy hit her with a pillow once or twice, she could not only avoid hitting her master back but in fact, under guise of it being duty, take many hits (mainly from the self-proclaimed Fairy Queen) targeting her keyholder. Knowing Virgo and her eccentricities, Lucy was willing to allow her guildmates to hit Virgo with a pillow just this once but anyone who targeted sweet Aries found themselves under a barrage of pillow hits (and the order of a wool bomb) from Lucy.

That might have allowed the slumber party to end with a massive sleepover if Laki and Chico hadn't decided to sneak a hit on Aries when Lucy was preoccupied fending off Evergreen, Virgo and Cana tussling about (Virgo's eyes gleaming under the card mage's chokehold as she grinned, almost malevolently, while transporting Cana's many bottles of alcohol into the Spirit World), and Mira and Erza engaged in an outright brawl that, thankfully, did not include their powers. Well, okay, Mira was in her Sitri form and Erza had on one of her armors but both women seemed content with simply inflicting physical abuse on one another and though bloodied and bruised, the damage was restricted to their persons. Aries' surprised squeak triggered Lucy's rage (subsequently, Evergreen decided that she was done being upset with Lucy) and despite being the spirit of the ram, Aries' face upon first being hit with a pillow from behind reminded both Erza and Mira of a frightened bunny, prompting their protective instincts towards the timid spirit and what had been a (sorta kinda) pillow fight became war as the combined fury of Lucy, Mira, and Erza saw to it no one and nothing at Fairy Hills remained unscathed. Poor Laki and Chico would never be the same (Laki would break out into hives at the sight of wool and Chico would enter something akin a catatonic state at the mention of it), Wendy would forever start gathering first aid supplies at the suggestion of a slumber party, and only Levy's quick thinking and Virgo's ability to near instantaneously rebuild had Fairy Hills still standing, albeit in several unconnected pieces, when the sun broke across the sky.

Since Laki was unconscious and no one else capable of fixing up the dormitory without causing greater structural damage was present, Virgo offered to fix the building as gratitude for allowing her to experience a slumber party. This led to a massive group hug which, oddly enough, seemed to actually disturb the maiden spirit and it took a good half hour before the spirit was able to begin the rebuilding process. Another hour later had Lucy exhausted, Fairy Hills good as new (and if it was larger and now housed a dungeon underneath, no one need know), and Virgo and Aries returning to the Celestial World. All in all, the night had gone better than Lucy suspected it would but she was still adamant about returning to her own apartment to sleep and several pointed arguments (where the few mages still conscious seemed genuinely puzzled by the idea of Lucy _not_ wanting to be groped, nearly strangled in a crushing embrace, or possibly have pictures of her taken and bandied about so men could imagine the "beautiful babies!" they could possibly have with her) eventually saw her making the lone trek back to her apartment.

Where her much-needed sleep was disrupted by this monster of a lightning mage who was currently snapping his fingers in front of her face. Scowling at him, she pushed his hand away and took some measure of pride at the surprise he was unable to hide. Motioning for him to sit, Lucy offered him a drink as she made her way to the kitchen to make coffee. If she was going to get through the day—and this conversation—she was going to need coffee—copious, copious amounts of the beautiful, caffeine-filled liquid heaven. The studio apartment meant Laxus could watch her as she heated the water, quickly ground the coffee beans and then proceeded to take out two mugs, placing a single sugar cube in one and dumping the entire bowl into the other.

"How the hell do you have teeth left?!" Lucy didn't respond to him, merely shot him a glare over her shoulder as the kettle whistled. Once the coffee was made, she poured it into the two mugs and, bringing them over to where Laxus sat, handed him the single-sugar cubed mug before sitting across from him with her sugar-laden one. Choosing not to question how she knew how he wanted his coffee, Laxus chose to let the steaming drink cool and watched as she took several deep gulps from her mug, impressed she didn't even wince.

Seeing his expression, Lucy shrugged. "Natsu," she said by way of explanation and oddly enough, Laxus found that one name _did_ answer his unasked question though he was unsure how. "I'm sure you have questions," she began once the minutes stretched on in silence and she had refilled her mug, once again with a bowl worth of sugar while Laxus had only just taken a couple of sips from his. "You don't _have_ to go," she prefaced. "I don't expect you to and it isn't fair to ask—to have—you come with me when I'm not even sure what I _can_ tell you."

"Might help if you tell me why you're tryna kill yourself." No one, least of all Laxus, ever claimed the Lightning Dragon Slayer to be subtle and as he watched Lucy choke on her drink, coughing furiously and face a bright red as she attempted to regain her breath, Laxus reckoned no one ever would. If ever he was to be guild master, he should probably work on that.

"I—wha-where—I mean, you—" Lucy's spluttering shouldn't have been amusing and perhaps it wasn't. Perhaps Laxus was just tired, irritated and incredibly grumpy that this slip of a mage apparently had so much shit going on, she was apparently suicidal and no one knew. Not even him, even though he (and by extension, the Raijinshuu) had been keeping a close eye on her since Gramps made him aware of the ridiculous amount of trouble that was always just lingering in her periphery. That stupid lion spirit of hers had disappeared after letting out _that_ bombshell and he could hardly call the oversized fuzzball out to answer his questions without bringing _her_ into it. Whatever the case, watching the petite mage gasp and simultaneously attempt to take in air while dealing with the hot liquid that traveled down the wrong pipe was somehow hilarious and Laxus had no compunction snickering and then, for some reason, roaring with laughter.

Perhaps he was going mad.

Honestly, if she was planning on dying, then why the fuck had he and his gramps worked so hard to keep her safe? Screw that—if she wanted to die so badly, Laxus would end her damn misery for her. There was enough shit going on and even though the country—continent, really—at large seemed perfectly happy to pretend Alvarez wasn't one mad man's whim away from invading Ishgar— _again_ —Laxus and Makarov knew better. They, along with Mavis, had been brainstorming contingency plans for the inevitable day things would go to shits again.

"It's not funny," Lucy mumbled when Laxus' laughter began to fade.

"No, it's not," Laxus agreed and immediately, any levity between the two was gone. "So?"

Lucy murmured something that sounded like "stupid lion" and possibly threatened to stick his finger in a light socket so his hair would frizz and give him the look of a perpetually startled cat, which honestly amused Laxus to no end. Hell, he would be only too happy to shock the feline spirit for her if only because he and Loke didn't ever get along. They didn't _fight_ nor did they consider each other rivals, per se, and while there was no active avoidance of each other, both generally gave the other a wide berth. There was something about both men that rubbed each other the wrong way (according to Loke, Laxus was just jealous of all the, erm, _ladies_ , who naturally flocked to him while Laxus had taken one look at Loke and declared him a blowhard) and this had been true from the moment the then-secret spirit entered Fairy Tail.

"You gonna spill or what?" Laxus growled out when it was clear Lucy was lost in her own thoughts about various ways to punish the apparently loose-lipped lion. Any other time and Laxus might have encouraged her (though she really didn't need it—her imagination was a thing of wonder judging by the many and extremely creative scenarios he could hear her muttering) but according to her spirit, she was essentially on a suicide mission sanctioned by their government and according to gramps, he had less than a week to get all the information he could together to prepare for whatever hell would be sent his way.

"I'm not _trying_ to kill myself," she mumbled darkly and Laxus was inclined to believe her if only because the idea of a suicidal Lucy simply seemed so… _contrary_ , to what he knew, or thought he knew, of her. Of the front she put up in the guild and while the two weren't friends or particularly close, Laxus liked that Lucy was always—or at least had always appeared to be—genuine. Sure, she had her secrets—it was practically a requirement of the guild to have some deep dark secret one was constantly at war with—but in general, she was unfailingly and unapologetically honest. At least that was what Laxus had heard, observed, and truly believed.

With a sigh, Lucy leaned against her seat, curling both legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, chin resting between her knees. It occurred to Laxus she was hugging herself, seeking comfort, and he felt all the awkwardness of a man who did not—could not—offer it. Emotions and all the intricacies it entailed were better left to other members of his team, namely Freed or Ever, while actions, brute force and bluntness were Laxus' forte. Laxus was a cut and dry sort of man and he wondered what Fate was thinking, placing him with the infinitely more complexed Heartfilia for however long this still unrevealed mission would last.

"Your lion seems to think so." He felt, rather than saw, the buildup of magic as it coalesced into a single bright spot beside Lucy and prepared himself, resigned, to whatever drama would ensue with the arrival of the flamboyant spirit.

"Forced Gate Closure, Gate of the Lion, Leo." Lucy's voice was flat and, having not witnessed, nor known about, a forced closure before, Laxus was curious by the sudden dispersal of magic.

"You can do that?" he was truly stunned. He was certain Lucy had _not_ summoned Loke which meant she was counteracting her spirit's own magic to force his gate closed.

"Mhm," she was up and moving towards her closet, standing on tip toes as she pulled out a box from the upper shelf. Back still towards him, she took out what Laxus assumed to be a key hanging from the chain around her neck and unlocked the box, taking out a small communication lacrima. The key, and chain, properly in place again beneath her clothes, Lucy sat beside Laxus.

"Hisui Fiore." She called out and the lacrima lit up, flickered, and then took on the image of the Princess of Fiore.

"Lucy," the teal-haired female smiled warmly, if not tiredly. "Have you—oh, you have company." The princess broke off as Lucy adjusted the lacrima so that both she and Laxus could be seen.

"You remember Laxus—he'll be my partner."

Laxus nodded his greetings as the princess's eyes widened and her mouth dropped slightly. "Your—oh, oh! So you finally changed your mind!" Recalling her manners, the princess flushed slightly before greeting Laxus properly. Once the usual pleasantries were exchanged, the subject returned to the business at hand. "Does," Princess Hisui looked from Laxus to Lucy cautiously, "Does he know?"

Laxus frowned at being spoken of as if he wasn't present.

"No, I wasn't sure what I could and couldn't say," his frown deepened at Lucy's words and he shot a side-long glare at her that was promptly ignored. "I..is your father free to speak?" Laxus' suspicion was reignited when the princess glanced to the side of the camera, eyes sad before hardening and looking at Lucy. "Now is not a good time to speak with him. Lucy, when will you be—"

"We'll be there at the end of the week, as promised." Lucy's tone was clipped. "I need to tell Laxus what's going on—it's not fair for him not to know, especially given that he got roped into this blind."

"Of course, of course, We trust You." Hisui's attention was divided between them and something occurring off camera. "Use your best judgement and make sure everythi—" she cut off, alarmed by whatever was happening off screen. "Fa-," she bit her tongue and looked at Lucy, face drawn tight. "Tell him what he needs to know to successfully complete the mission—no more. When you both arrive to the capital, come to the palace immediately and We will inform You of anything else necessary." A glance off camera, "Please, as quickly as possible Lucy!"

Laxus blinked when the princess' image flickered once, twice, then faded out altogether and the lacrima began to crackle with excess energy. He barely managed to grab it from Lucy before the lacrima let out what would surely have been a fatal charge of electricity, frying itself and any data it once held.

"What the fuck?!" he looked from the, evidently disposable, communication lacrima in his hand to the stunned girl beside him. "You okay, blondie?"

"Y…yeah," she seemed surprised by the self-destructive nature of the lacrima so he concluded whoever sold it or gave it to her (he wasn't a betting man but he'd bet an entire S-class mission reward they had just spoken to one of the sources of the lacrima). "Thank you…oh, are you—"

"Lightning Dragon Slayer, remember?" Laxus smirked, amused at her unnecessary worry. "Would have preferred a better snack but, eh, whose gonna complain about a freebie? I take it you didn't know this was a burner lacrima?"

"No," Lucy shook her head, letting out a breathy sigh. "You would _think_ , considering everything, they would tell me! At the very least, they need me alive long enough to complete the mission."

Her words did nothing to settle Laxus' reservations nor Loke's words and he was brought back to why he was here in the first place.

"You planning on dying?" Lucy flinched at the intensity of his glare, the harshness of his voice, cutting through her and promising retribution for any lies.

Gathering her strength, Lucy turned so she was facing Laxus directly and squared her shoulders.

"Is anyone around?" she asked him and despite himself, he did a quick scan of the area, using his heightened senses to detect a third party.

Shaking his head, he asked, "Should Freed?" Taking his cue from her, he made sure to be vague as well. Lucy's brows furrowed in confusion for a moment before they shot up in understanding. Smiling at him, almost relieved, she nodded her head and he frowned in concentration as he put up the ruins that would prevent anyone from being able to overhear—or understand—the conversation. Apparently, Freed's insistence that he and the Raijinshuu learn some rudimentary ruins was spot on. "So?" he asked once he was done.

"The King is dying." His brows shot up but Lucy pressed on before he could say anything else. "It's an Ancient Curse on the Royal Family and the reason my Father is dead." The only way Laxus' brows could go any higher was if it could detach itself from his face. Turning slightly away from him, Lucy let out a bitter laugh.

"Wh—"

"It's funny, isn't it?" Her voice might have been described as crazed if it were less calm as she interrupted him. "Learning about Zeref and the Heartfilias, no one—not even me—thought about my father."

"How does the King being cursed end up with your old man croa—erm, gone?" Laxus quickly corrected himself at the glare Lucy shot him from the corner of her eyes.

"Because," briefly, Laxus wondered if perhaps Lucy _had_ gone insane. Well, insane by Fairy Tail standards. Maybe by legal standards as well. "What my parents never thought to tell me was that before dad met mom, he went by a different name." Lucy shook her head and Laxus, though known more for his brawn than brain, was intelligent enough to connect the dots.

"Your father is…"

"Judicas Fiore, younger brother to King Toma E. Fiore and the _idiot_ ," her voice was unnaturally high and Laxus winced at its savage pitch, "who chose to _die_ so his brother didn't have to." Her words ended in a strangled sob and Laxus cut his eyes away from the struggling girl as she attempted to pull herself together. Several minutes passed before a soft, "I'm sorry," forced Laxus' surprised gaze back on the mage he was coming to realize was just barely holding everything together and had been struggling probably since before the guild reformed. Her pain, the crack in her tone, the shuddering breaths and the depth of the sorrow in her eyes that, for a brief but all too long minute could not be hidden, was not recent nor one that built steadily over days. No, this had to be the work of months, perhaps even years and Laxus considered if he was the wrong man for the job.

She would be better off with Mira or Erza—hell, even _Gramps_ or another one of her teammates, S-class or not, would be the better choice for the suffering girl. Sure, there would have to be some finessing about if Gramps disappeared— _again_ —but Laxus was sure they could come up with some plausible reason. The old man had disappeared once, who was to say he wouldn't or couldn't again?

Laxus could provide fire power, he could provide brute strength and near instantaneously grab the girl and bring her to safety as his gramps told him to do if things got too dangerous. What Laxus could not—did not—provide was comfort. He could hardly give something he himself was so unfamiliar with.

But he was who she was stuck with.

"So we just gotta break this curse, right?" he grunted, looking at his feet and hoping he didn't appear anywhere close to as awkward as he felt. "I'm guessing you at least have an idea how to do it?"

Lucy nodded, still rubbing some of the tears from the corner of her eyes. "I don't know how to break the curse but Anna Heartfilia was, in her lifetime, called to consult about the curse and made some adjustments. She passed before she could determine how to break the curse completely but left behind her notes. Even if we don't succeed in breaking the curse, I can at least stave it off for a few years or more. If the curse isn't broken by then…well, we'll still have bought extra time." She didn't look at him and once again, Loke's words rang in Laxus' ears as his gut sank and pieces of the puzzle slowly clicked into place.

"It's a curse on the Royal Family."

"Uhm."

"Your father died so the King didn't have to."

"Mhm," Lucy still wouldn't look at him and he wondered how the fuck she could sit there, so calm, when his stupid leg wouldn't obey his mind's command to Just. Stop. Tapping. Already.

"But the King's dying now anyway." Narrow eyes watched for even the most minute of movement from Lucy, for a wince, a smile, a shrug—hell, Laxus would have been pleased with a friggin inadvertent muscle twitch. But he got nothing.

Lucy was by far a better actress than he—or anyone—knew.

"Your father was an idiot." _That_ got a reaction, albeit muted.

"Yeah," Lucy sighed softly, leaning back against her sofa.

"And you?"

"Me?" Lucy looked at him, a smile he didn't understand twisting her lips, voice as soft as the look in her eyes. "I guess I might be an idiot, too."


	4. Chapter 3

Hi everyone! I wanted to thank you all for the response to this story. LucyxAnyoneShipper: Yeah, we'll see as the story progresses further that there is a lot neither Lucy nor Laxus knows. Lol-several people have told me I drink sugar flavored with coffee so yay! fellow sugary coffee-lover! Tiernank: Thank you! and last, but not least, Guest: Yeah...this story will be bouncing between dark and more light-hearted. After this election cycle, I didn't have it in me to go dark so this chapter will be more filler-ish and light-hearted.

We will shift focus almost entirely to Lucy and Laxus beginning the next chapter.

Until then, please enjoy!

* * *

 _ **Chapter Three**_

* * *

" _We know not who They are. We know only that They have successfully stopped previous attempts to break This Curse. It has long been postulated They are of Divine Origins, perhaps Fallen Beings. No One has lived who have seen Them, No One has Spoken who have heard Them. No One save One. We shall pray and Hope, Lucy Heartfilia, that as Her Blood runs through Your Veins, so too shall Her Spirit Guide and Protect You."_

* * *

"Sweet!" crowed Natsu, a fist pumped in excitement. "I'm all fired up! Where are we going? What are we doing? Who do we have to beat? Count us in, right, Happy?"

"Aye, sir!"

Given that Lucy was soon to be leaving for an undetermined length of time with Laxus for a mission only they two, along with the Royal Family—and maybe, possibly, _probably_ , Zeref, because as far as Lucy was concerned, he knew _everything_ and though it went unvoiced, neither she nor the Fiores thought Zeref's impulsive decision to leave Ishgar was _un_ related to said curse—she thought it prudent to sit her team down and announce her upcoming absence due to a mission. Thus far, it was going as predicted.

"Don't be ridiculous Flame brain, you can't go!" Grey's remark was, as always, impossible to ignore for Natsu and barely a minute passed before both mages were snarling at one another, foreheads pressed together and an arm curled back and ready to strike. From her spot at one end of the table, Erza's expression shuttered as she put down the rag she had been using on her newly-sharpened sword.

"Are you both fighting?" her voice was low but enough to remind the two rivals of her presence.

"No way, Erza, we're best buddies!" Gray slung an arm around Natsu who repeated the gesture.

"Best buddies!" Natsu added a thumbs and a forceful grin that fooled no one but Erza.

"That is what I like to hear," Erza smiled fondly at the two. "But Gray is correct Natsu. You are still forbidden from taking missions until Master says otherwise. Worry not, Gray and I shall—"

" _None_ of you are coming with me!" Lucy interrupted, voice rising as she abruptly stood up from the bench, hands flat on the wooden table.

Four pairs of eyes, three human and one exceed, turned, as one, to look at her and blinked in unison. Were the situation different, Lucy would have found the symmetry creepy.

"B..but, why?!" Natsu looked at Lucy searchingly.

"Are you mad at us, Lushee?" Happy crawled on top of the table, "Is this because we didn't help you wipe the dog's butt?" His eyes went wide, "Oh no, having to look at the dog's butt all day made you crazy, didn't it? I told you dogs were evil, Natsu! Ahhh! No Lushee, you can't be crazy, you're already a weirdo!"

"You're wrong Happy!" Natsu's expression was akin to Happy's. "Luce ain't crazy. She must've caught some weird dog disease! Don't worry Luce, we'll get you to Porlyusica and she'll have you fixed up in no time! Man, who knew—"

"Shut it Natsu. Obviously, Lucy is just upset because her rent is due soon and she's running short," Gray rolled his eyes and Lucy fought the urge to do the same. Her year alone had been a healthy move for her savings, if not her emotional well-being and following Alvarez's retreat and the resumption of life's daily grind, Lucy's complaints regarding the state of her finances were kept to a minimum, if at all existent. It was not to say she didn't make her displeasure known over docked reward payments—despite clearly being a losing battle, Lucy felt it necessary to remind her teammates property damage did not go hand in hand with a successful mission and, given her duties both as Team Natsu's unofficial public relations person and overseeing the guild's financials, it seemed irresponsible _not_ to at least acknowledge it. But when the time came for her to pay rent, she remained largely silent.

Several factors were responsible for this, most of which could be traced back to changes that naturally occurs when a team, no matter how tightly-knit, go their separate ways to recover from unspoken horrors and share nary a word with one another for an entire year. Tartaros may have failed in taking down Fairy Tail overall but they successfully fractured the relationships and sense of self its members held most sacred. Team Natsu might have come back together physically stronger but the unity in spirit that _made_ the team what it was remained elusive. The biggest indicator of this was that Lucy, whose identity was so inexplicably tied to Team Natsu, began taking solo missions and while her salmon-headed partner was clearly not _pleased_ by it, he stopped inviting himself along after the second time resulted in a particularly harsh Lucy-Kick and a shrill shriek in his ear that made it ring for days. He still made attempts to follow her, however, but whatever his success in finding her, he generally returned a day or so later sulking and more prone to starting fights for any little reason (including one incident where he decided Gajeel's use of the word "shrimp" was an insult directed at Happy…a stunned Happy was in tears throughout the entire brawl and it took Charla scoffing at the idea that he was the "shrimp" in question to cheer him up).

Lucy's happy entrance into the guild during said brawl ended it with a possibly stronger than necessary Lucy Kick that left several imprints of bodies in one of the guild's wall while the rest of those involved were caught in a large wool pile that left them picking pieces of the material out of unmentionable areas for _days_. That was in addition to her lectures regarding the damages done to the guild in her absence and the cost of repairs which, many would later agree, was much worse than her simply attacking them. Fairy Tail was a lively guild largely composed of orphans and there was something infinitely worse about the disappointed look in her eyes as she calmly lectured them than any physical punishments dished out. Elfman was not the only one who cried and begged for forgiveness when she took one last look at the broken furniture and glass littering the guild and let out a resigned sigh. To date, Lucy refused to have the wall repaired of its imprints and quietly, many assumed it was meant to serve as a reminder and warning. With such changes to their teammate, it was no wonder Team Natsu, though still prone to breaking into her apartment, were less prone to inflicting massive damage while in it or eating her out of house and home. Lucy was grateful for the savings and Team Natsu were grateful for a general decrease in Lucy Kicks and increasingly longer stretches of hospitality from the blonde. All things considered, Lucy found herself with little reason to bemoan her finances.

The state of the _guild's_ finances, however, were quick to take its place and grievances commonly focused on the guild's habit of just skirting the red. Makarov wept tears of joy as, except for the first several months following the x791 Grand Magic Games, Fairy Tail had never been in the black before and being _near_ the red was preferable to the guild's normal state. He gave Juvia a run for her money in flooding the guild with tears when he realized Lucy's creative yet somehow still perfectly legal bookkeeping (accounting and legal authorities came to the guild to check the books the first-time Lucy sent out bills in Fairy Tail's name and were left shaking their heads in bewilderment afterwards. Porlyusica had to be called for Makarov when just a week later, Lucy received the first of several lucrative job offers) were augmented by her negotiation skills.

Laxus considered her prowess in negotiation to be some sort of "celestial magic voodoo thing," which earned him a bruised toe when Lucy stomped on his foot. Evidently, he failed to learn his lesson as, when put upon by Makarov to compliment Lucy's help in both contract negotiations and keeping the guild afloat (and for lessening the amount of financial paperwork making their way to the Dreyars' desks, which both were truly grateful for), his bumbling through somehow included the words "tits a-flashing" with a hand gesture that resulted in his introduction to a Lucy kick. Makarov may have laughed. He might also have been drunk but his reaction to the newly negotiated contracts wasn't much better. After making sure the figures and conditions of the contracts were correct, he promptly burst into tears as he clung onto the blonde, not letting go (albeit he may have decided to take advantage of the situation and cop a feel as well) until a very embarrassed Laxus had to bodily remove him and if the larger man sent several shocks the old man's way, no one chose to be the wiser. Actually, that might have contributed to the older man's gleeful cackling when Laxus went flying out his office window, eyes comically large and mouth agape.

According to a put out and understandably incensed Lucy, she began learning the art of deal-making from nearly the moment she could speak. Both her parents believed it hugely important for their only child to learn as soon as possible—her father because she was heir to the company he was building (and in hindsight, probably because he simply didn't know any different) and her mother because Lucy was to inherit Layla's keys and would be making contracts of her own with celestial beings. Laxus, who was forced to apologize to Lucy and found his paperwork that month particularly bothersome (Master decided to "teach" Laxus some more realities of a guild master by handing over nearly three quarters of his own paperwork) still thought it was a pretty girl with a sharp mind thing and Lucy let him get away with insultingly implying it was anything other than her mind that allowed her a good deal because, as she put it, "men are just stupid." Laxus wanted to take offense but felt she had too good a point. Makarov was convinced it was a celestial mage thing and a pretty girl thing—after all, as a celestial mage, Lucy needed to convince other beings to fight for and with her and as a pretty girl…well, Makarov had been convinced to do many a stupid thing by a pretty face and the distraction of his fantasies, particularly in his younger years. Unlike Laxus, the short Dreyar kept this to himself. Both Dreyars, however, agreed in the end it was likely simply a _Lucy_ thing.

Unfortunately for Lucy, these were not the things that earned one reprieve at Fairy Tail and much to her dismay, a clear majority of the guild, including her own team, made little distinction between previous complaints about her personal finances and those of the guild. She wasn't surprised as many had difficulties distinguishing between their own individual finances and that of the guild. So long as both, member and guild could afford what they needed (or believed they needed), the consensus was to live and let live. The guild's propensity of living in the moment meant future planning was few and far between, most content to leave future planning to, well, the future. Gray's comment then, while irksome, was not entirely unexpected.

That didn't mean she couldn't get upset, however. "This has nothing to do with that," Lucy grounded out, losing the battle against rolling her eyes. The ice devil slayer merely raised both hands in the air, more to forestall an increasingly common argument than in capitulation.

"Then why can't we go too?" Natsu whined.

"Yes, Lucy, why?" Erza seemed hurt at the idea of Lucy not wanting her team to tag along.

Letting out a sigh, Lucy sat back down, leaning against the table with one forearm while the other hand held up a finger. "Well, firstly," she began, casting a look at her silent and now entirely-seated team, "because Team Natsu is still disbanded and secondly," another finger joined the first, "I was specifically requested for this mission. None of you were."

"What's the mission?" Grey's arms crossed in front of his newly bare chest and he frowned. "Are you sure it's safe? You should take someone along just in case. It could be trap, just someone trying to get you all alone—"

"I won't be alone." Lucy congratulated herself for remaining composed despite the familiar annoyance rearing its head once more as her teammates continued their over-protective inclinations over her. ' _Coddling_ ,' her mind whispered treacherously, _'because they think you're weak. Because you_ _are_ _weak.'_

"Of course not, _I_ shall go with you." Erza nodded in approval, a shroud of deadly calm wrapped around her shoulders as her eyes lit with suppressed anger at the thought of her fair-haired teammate being led into a trap.

"No you won't." Immediately, Erza's expression fell.

"This…This is because I did not bring you back cake, isn't it? My apologies, Lucy! It was a long journey back and I allowed my hunger to overtake the sacred bonds of our friendship." Lucy felt herself growing slightly lightheaded as metal-encased hands wrapped tightly around her shoulders, lifting her from her seat til her feet were off the floor and shaking her roughly. Lucy was not sure what hurt more, the crashing of her brain within her skull or the nearly rhythmic smack of the heavy wooden bench behind her against her calves. Dimly, she supposed at the very least, it was a good thing she would have bruises from the bench on her legs to match the finger-shaped ones that would surely decorate her shoulders. She would hate not to match.

"I am unworthy of your kindness. Please, strike me in retribution," Erza bowed her head, her grip tightening and her shaking more forceful. In bowing her head, her hands lowered and Lucy's feet now scraped against the floor with every shake, making the dragon slayers present wince at the noise. "It is the least I deserve for forsaking our friendship, even if it was for the most delici—"

A loud snort, coming from a hulking blonde two tables away, was followed by a gruff, "Geeze Titania, giving Blondie there a concussion won't make her forget you weren't invited."

"What are yo—Lucy!" Erza immediately let go of Lucy, bowing from her waist now as Lucy fell back down onto the bench, one arm forward to steady herself against the table and a hand coming up to cradle her head. Slowly, the room began to slow its spinning and she thought she could feel her brain weeping in joy as it slid back into place, safe from the re-equip mage, at least for the time being.

"S'okay…" she murmured, still dazed and absently mindedly waving a weak hand to end Erza's profuse apologies. As the room appeared to stop moving, she blinked several times until she was sure she was sufficiently recovered and then sent a thankful look Laxus' direction. The older dragon slayer rolled his eyes, shrugging one shoulder as he leaned back against the table and eyed Team Natsu warily. The firebreather was frowning and thinking—or at least, Laxus hoped he was and wasn't suffering a serious case of constipation—and his annoying exceed partner was…well, Laxus wasn't sure what Happy was doing. It seemed safe to assume the furball was thinking about fish though so he was going with that. The stripper was currently taking off his boxers so Laxus sent him a little shock and looked, pointedly, where the ice mage's hands were when Gray let out a grunt and then glared at him. Gray flushed in embarrassment as he pulled his boxers back up.

Laxus expected the Titania to take some umbrage, either at his shocking her teammate or at her teammate's unfortunate habit. The scarlet mage was, however, focused on Lucy.

"I cannot allow you to go on this mission alone, Lucy. It is far too danger—"

"I _won't_ be alone!"

"Lucy is correct, she will not be alone," Freed broke into the conversation, sounding almost offended more attention was not being paid Gray, where Laxus' attention had been. Did no one in that team understand that wherever Laxus looked, _that_ was where you should pay attention? "Laxus will be joining her so as you can see, Lucy could not possibly be in safer and more capable hands." The rune mage's words earned him (or rather, Laxus but Freed thought it best to pretend this was not the case) several glares from the direction of Team Natsu, including from Lucy who took some pleasure when the teal-haired man faltered, surprised, upon receiving a scowl from his hero.

"Dammit, Freed, why'd ya have to tell them? Now this one," he gestured his head towards Natsu, "is gonn—"

"Laxus, fight me!" Natsu was the first to recover from his shock and, with an odd look in his eyes but his mouth stretched in excitement, launched himself at the still seated Laxus, fists afire. As expected, he was promptly knocked across the room and into a wall with one punch from the older man.

"Don't break the wall!" Lucy screeched, alarmed, then let out a sigh of relief as her best friend slid down the still-standing, if dented, wall into an unconscious heap on the floor. Seeing the wall in one piece and knowing her friend was ridiculously sturdy (Lucy honestly believed Natsu could be sent flying from one end of the continent to the other and suffer little more than a few scratches and a terrible case of motion sickness), Lucy shot a stern look towards the older blonde. The lightning mage sighed, one thumb and index finger coming up to massage the skin between his eyes as the other hand went to rub the nub leading into his ears.

"Dammit Busty," he grumbled, "stop screeching!"

Two things happened simultaneously at his words which, in the future, Laxus realized he should have expected. Lucy screeched again, louder this time, perhaps actually saying something but more likely simply as revenge. Meanwhile, Erza appeared in a flash before Laxus, sword in hand as she looked upon him suspiciously.

"Are you threatening Lucy's virtue, Laxus?"

"Erza, put the sword down!" Lucy demanded, stalking over as well and gently lowering the redhead's sword-wielding hand as she stood between the two S-class powerhouses. "Honestly, if you two fight there's no way the guild will remain standing and the budget is stretched thin enough this month already!"

Erza frowned. "But he—"

"Oh, right." Lucy nodded, her words almost an afterthought, and before her teammate could finish the sentence, whirled around and slapped Laxus. Had the lightning mage been standing, there was no way she would have struck his face but he was seated and her palm cleanly met the set of his jaw. It barely stung but the unexpected meeting of hand on lower mandible meant Laxus' head turned slightly off to the side. "Friiiiiiiick," she hissed, holding her hand as the stunned dragon slayer looked on and Freed and Bickslow reflexively stood up, offended on their leader's behalf. "What are you made of?! I think your face broke my hand!" She flexed each finger, then her hand, several times as if to make sure it was still working. "Sorry," she silently mouthed to the quiet dragon slayer with the now twitching eye before turning back to Erza. "There, honor avenged!" she happily chirped, throwing a thumb up and winking.

Erza looked from one blonde to the other for a long moment before nodding in satisfaction. "Very well, I will not interfere _this_ time. Although…are you certain you are pleased with just one hit? I could skewer him into several pieces for you if you'd like." The Knight seemed oblivious to her friend's alarm or the angry aura surrounding the Raijinshuu and Gray's answering rise in magic. Laxus and the unconscious Natsu seemed the only ones unaffected by her words.

"Completely sure," Lucy's hands waved frantically in front of her and Laxus. "And it's like Freed said, Laxus was asked to come on the mission, too, so I won't be alone and you know Laxus is strong. Super strong!" Lucy hurriedly added and at Erza's still unconvinced expression, turned slightly towards Laxus. "Say something!" she hissed.

Laxus shifted slightly, looked off towards the side, and grunted. Lucy smacked her forehead with the heel of her palm but Erza's stance relaxed.

"Very well, but if you need anything, be sure to call." Lucy's smile was heartwarming and the only warning she gave before leaping at Erza and giving the older woman a tight hug. Erza returned the embrace, not noticing Lucy's wince when her head crashed against metal breastplate. Letting the smaller woman go, the famous mage shifted focus to Laxus. "We will be counting on you Laxus. And I trust you shall protect our Lucy's maiden innocence from any threats as well." Erza nodded and, ignoring the spluttering and now red Lucy (who only turned redder at Laxus' smirk and soft snicker), turned her focus to the male members of the Raijinshuu.

"Freed," Erza frowned, looking from him to Bickslow, "Bickslow, should you two not be working on undoing your mistake?"

"Oh, it's fine," Bickslow shrugged nonchalantly, tongue hanging out. "Freed and me—and Master—got it under control now. Right, Master?"

Makarov, until then silent, nodded, eyes closed from his position at the empty bar. He seemed deep in thought and he was—mentally, he was tallying up the amount of money the guild stood to lose if he was to allow Team Natsu to reform, sans their celestial mage, and then sent them off on various missions to keep them busy. He could feel the heart attack just waiting to happen—assuming, of course, Team Natsu even made it to their destination. The one and only time they were sent off without Lucy (and Makarov swore he would never, ever, wish Lucy would get a handle on her team within earshot again. That sweet smile she sent him was almost as terrifying as Mira's and even as he agreed, he knew sending Team Natsu out sans the generally level-headed blonde was a mistake) on a mission, they never made it to their destination. There was, Makarov realized, a good reason Team Natsu did not exist until after Lucy's appearance, despite the three widely known members having been a part of the guild for years up til then.

The train never made it to their intended destination. The combination of the boys' rivalry coupled with Erza's temper led to a disastrous train ride with half the train severely damaged, a couple of cabins completely unsalvageable and somehow, train tracks that were simultaneously melted and frozen beyond recognition for miles at a time. Makarov was crying for an entirely different but much more familiar reason as Lucy placed the various bills and papers concerning that catastrophe before him. How she managed to keep the guild in the black that month, as well as handle the ire of all parties involved, remained a mystery to Makarov and he chose to keep it as such. (He wouldn't have received an answer anyway as Laxus and Lucy were dispatched to handle the crisis and both agreed not to speak of it to anyone—ever.)

Perhaps, Makarov considered, he could just make sure to send members of Team Natsu on individual missions. No, that wouldn't work. At the very least, Natsu and Happy would, at some point, get it in their heads to look for Lucy and that was on top of the damage they traditionally wrought, especially when left alone. Gray could generally be trusted to behave but he was not immune from breaking the occasional rule, especially if it seemed Natsu was going to do so and if it involved any member of his team (here, Makarov included Juvia because despite what the former ice-make mage said, the two were only rarely separated and if Gray was not on a mission with his team, he was likely away with Juvia). Erza could be trusted to complete her missions alone and not search for Lucy if she felt it was a rule or somehow dishonoring Lucy or the guild in any way. It would be a little tricky but not impossible.

Gray and Erza could do missions together but that left a Juvia flooding the guild and, most importantly, Natsu on his own away from supervision. Gray and Natsu were out of the question for obvious reasons and he could not allow Erza and Natsu to go out together on their own. They fed off each other's destructiveness and while Erza was prone to some amount of excess destruction in her solo days, it was manageable and nothing compared to the devastation she wrought with her team. Growing up together as they did meant Natsu (and Gray) knew exactly how to incite Erza's temper and the maturity the sword-wielding mage gained with age was lost as she fell back to the tendencies of childhood. Natsu would wreak damage in his love of a good fight and Erza could easily compound the damages trying to put a stop to Natsu's excited actions. No, no matter what Makarov did, he had to make sure Natsu in particular was under supervision and only Erza (and Mira but she no longer went out on missions and the money she brought to the guild with her modeling would be essential without Lucy working the guild's finances) was able to maintain some sort of control over the fire dragon slayer over any stretch of time. Unfortunately, Erza and Natsu required a Lucy-shaped buffer or another reasonable and generally level-headed person to help contain the damages that would inevitably occur.

Makarov groaned at the thought and slammed his head against the bar. Stupid annoying Royals and their stupid secret missions.

The Master's groan was taken as evidence to the amount of work he put into fixing the Freed and Bickslow's great mistake by Erza, Happy, Gray, and a newly conscious Natsu, despite their not having seen anything being done. The guild had barely been cleared five minutes before Lucy sat them down and announced her upcoming absence. Then again, perhaps the fact that the guild had stopped trying to tear itself apart had registered (even if they failed to notice the building had remained steadily and solidly constructed since the last member left for Blue Pegasus) so they had no reason to believe otherwise.

"I see," Erza looked around the empty main hall of the building, "I hope you two have learned your lesson." As she continued her lecture, hands on her hips, Freed and Bickslow looked down towards the ground, nodding intermittently and generally feigning guilt where there was none.

Oh, the things they did for their beloved leader.

* * *

The reasoning behind the two male Raijinshuu's lack of guilt was simple.

Their mistake was part of the plan concocted by the guild's two blonde members and Master Makarov, with some input from the Raijinshuu. And it was entirely because a certain team was infamously and overly reactive or, as Laxus put it, notorious for "making shit explosive diarrhea." Freed flattered Laxus over his way with words as Lucy, Evergreen, and Makarov grimaced over the imagery. But the inarticulate man had a point.

Owing to Team Natsu's well-known…enthusiasm, it had been decided that it was best if the team were informed of the upcoming separation at the guild, where Master could help keep them contained if necessary. Master gave his consent (Lucy insisted on telling Master the plan they came up with to inform her team. Laxus found this unnecessary, insisting Lucy was a teacher's pet and Master wouldn't dare say no to his new favorite. The word "suck up" may have been muttered under his breath but not silently enough as Lucy stuck her tongue out at him) and since the Raijinshuu would need to be informed of Laxus' absence, it made sense that they would be asked to help.

Telling the Raijinshuu their dear leader would be leaving for an extended period of time was easy. All Laxus needed to do was announce he would be going on a mission with the Celestial Mage per master's orders. Makarov's inclusion of Laxus regarding the constant threat surrounding Lucy meant the Raijinshuu were aware, to some extent, that Lucy's brand of power made her a much-sought after commodity in the dark magic world and it made perfect sense to them that he would accompany the blonde on whatever mission she took. Especially if, as she said, she was requested and her team, disbanded as they may be for the moment, were not. If anything, the Raijinshuu thought this was further proof of Laxus' sheer perfection and told him so. Lucy weakly smiled when Bickslow slapped her in the back, telling her how lucky she was to have Laxus helping her and Evergreen jabbed her in the ribs (only a little bit too forcefully) and made a comment about Lucy not taking advantage of Laxus. Freed was indignant at the innuendo, Bickslow snickered, Laxus rolled his eyes and Lucy wished the ground would swallow her up.

With the Raijinshuu ready and willing to help in whatever manner they could, the next order of business was to empty the guild. It was important there was no one present who could feed into Team Natsu's curiosity and disappointment and this being Fairy Tail, it essentially boiled down to having only those necessary present. Fairy Tail was not known for their comportment and a filled guild meant endless questions that would interrupt Lucy's conversation with her team, allowing her teammates to grow more frustrated and therefore, upset and demanding of answers.

Unfortunately, the guildhall was _never_ empty and simply shutting it down with no explanation would not go over well. Thus, a different and much more complicated and ridiculous path was necessary, one which made Laxus smack his head and wonder what it said about him and the guild that he believed it would actually work.

In a day that would forever be known at Fairy Tail (and Blue Pegasus) as simply _That_ Day, a mere two days before Lucy and Laxus would leave for Crocus, the plan took place. The deceptively normal-seeming day was widely circulated as one of the most terrifying yet hazy event amongst the various guilds of Fiore though for varying reasons. For Fairy Tail, it was the events before their arrival at Blue Pegasus that was horrifying while Blue Pegasus's deep scarring was the result of a Fairy Tail celebration afterwards. Most of the guilds who would find themselves drawn into the celebration were not so much scarred by the event as by memories of the morning, or rather, mornings, after though what little they remembered of the actual party itself was generally deemed significant enough as to warrant a drink or two (save for the pretty number of individuals who swore off alcohol entirely soon after _That_ Day).

Supposedly, _That_ Day began with an attempted unison raid between the two male members of the Raijinshuu who, for reasons unknown decided it would be a good idea to try one and did not consider combining seith magic with any other magic to be a bad idea. Perhaps their lone female teammate could have talked them out of it but she had fallen victim to a stomach bug and was recuperating in the dorms. Mira, twitching and squealing with glee, was quick to exit after some suggestive comments from Bickslow and Master suggested there might be another reason for the self-proclaimed Fairy Queen's nausea, determinedly dragging a stunned Elfman by his ear. Without Evergreen, the only other party available to offer an opinion was Laxus and the best one could hope from him was a grunt that could either mean "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea" or "You're an idiot and if you bring this up again, I'll shove my fist down your throat and hang you by your entrails." Freed, renowned for his intelligence and commonly a voice of reason, was, in this rare event, one of the irresponsible party, having fallen victim to his own curiosity and Bickslow was always game so long as something sounded fun. So the two were left, unencumbered, to do as they wished and if their wish was to attempt to combine their magics, there was no one to stop them.

But unison raids were not known for being notoriously difficult for no reason and while both mages were confident in their powers and magic, neither considered that magic itself was not an inanimate and stable entity nor was it immune to the whims or quirks of its caster. Bickslow's love of pranks met Freed's love of rules and an explosion—literal and metaphorical—resulted in an unpredictable mass of magic that morphed into exactly what one might expect if Freed and Bickslow ever found a way to create a child: it had Freed's curiosity and Bickslow's sense of humor. It was not alive exactly but neither was it not _not_ alive and the combination of Freed's ruins and Bickslows' soul possession powers gave it something of personality quirk. Since the intent of the Unison Raid was meant to break a possessor's hold on their victim, the magic was intent on separating _some_ thing. Preferably something that failed to follow the rules. And its inclination was to target something that bothered its casters.

Fortunately, neither men were mean-hearted. Unfortunately, Freed was not overly fond of the guild's excessive consumption of alcohol and Bickslow was far too fond of creating some mischief for his friends, particularly if they were drunk. The spell took these two pieces of information, presumably gave a nod and thought, "Yeah, this'll do!" Then it took a look around to see how else it could inconvenience people.

Thus, when members of the Fairy Tail staggered into what used to be their guild and was currently a building in the process of breaking itself apart only to put itself back together again, they were met with a frazzled Freed, an uncharacteristically serious Bickslow and Master Makarov's long face. The news Master broke was met with horror and tears. Or rather, the last news Master announced because the guild was oddly alright with the fact that their building was currently having an existential crisis and that things in the guild were re-arranging themselves by intended use and size, then color, before returning to their original placement only to repeat the process again. No, the problem was the alcohol.

Or rather, the lack of drinkable alcohol due to the tangled mess of seals and some additional magic preventing the opening of the containers. No amount of magic and strength seemed able to break through the failed unison raid's barrier on the guild's elixir. Tempers flared and things turned nasty as guild members repeatedly failed to free the alcohol from its seals and those bottles already opened proved undrinkable. Literally—it turned solid when the bottle was opened and when some intrepid members (led by Cana) attempted to stick their tongue down the neck of the bottle anyway, the mixture transformed into its various individual ingredients. It was demanded that Freed fix the problem he had a part in creating, not so much because it was the right thing to do but because _there was alcohol that they couldn't drink_! Master saved the poor mage by announcing only the teal-haired man's quick thinking kept _all_ the alcohol from separating into hops, barley and various other grains and ingredients. There was a silent moment of relief and then the demand that he fix the problem. Unfortunately, he was unable to—the runes had been written in such a way, following his attempts to mitigate damages, that his taking them apart had an unpleasant consequence.

There was a loud outcry that he take the punishment—there was _alcohol_ that needed help! Poor, poor, fuzzy-warmth inducing alcohol. Some may have shed tears and a young teenager may have groaned in embarrassment as he shuffled away from his sobbing father. The outcry came to an immediate halt when Freed explained the punishment was not so much for him—and demonstrated on the closest bottle.

"Not Johnny!" Cana sobbed, grabbing hold of the bottle and falling to her knees, only to have the bottle shake as the runes lit up. There was a weird sound heard within, some strange twitches as the contents within the bottled swirled and sputtered and even appeared to smoke. Then—nothing. All became calm. Cana eagerly opened the bottle, cackling when it remained liquid and prepared to take a swig only to freeze, nose twitching.

The guild, having experienced a brief surge of optimism, froze with her as she lowered her nose closer to the opening and took a long, expert sniff, frowning at her discovery. Finally, she lifted it to her lips, eyes suspicious and immediately spat it out.

"It's _water_!" she wailed and pandemonium broke. Freed had turned precious alcohol into _water_!

Since this was Fairy Tail, Levy was immediately summoned about an emergency of unimaginable, world-ending proportion and the wheezing, red-faced script mage's arrival, eyes fierce and ready to face Zeref, was heralded with cheers of a savior and her indignant drowned-out lecture upon discovery of the so-called emergency. Clearing his throat, Makarov decided it was time to step in once more.

Ultimately, this led to nearly the entire guild marching off, as one, towards the train station and then, Blue Pegasus (who had been unknowingly volunteered by Makarov to help as the unison raid's affects were likely to weaken with distance and Blue Pegasus boasted a certain archive mage who could only help this situation), carrying carts laden with the entirety of the guild's alcohol supply. Seated in one of the carts was Levy, whose sole responsibility during this trek would be to research and attempt to find a way to "fix" the alcohol and she was flanked in all directions by battle-ready mages who were determined no one and nothing distract the petite mage from her duty. As a preemptive strike, Gajeel was knocked out and laid in the cart with her where his near-entry to consciousness was mitigated by his desire to sleep away his motion sickness.

Since Freed and Bickslow were responsible for this travesty, they were to remain behind to fix their mess at the guild. Ostensibly, this was because they needed to learn a lesson but it was well-known but unspoken that once the alcohol supply was free of whatever cursed magic currently kept it away from eager lips, the mages would imbibe and no one thought it seemed fair that the two who created the mess (however much the guild would enjoy it later) should benefit in any way. It would take nearly five hours to untangle the magic preventing access to the liquor and six and a half hours before Master Bob remembered what a true Fairy Tail party meant and lost his enthusiasm at all the pretty boys currently in his guild. Eight hours would pass before anyone realized that somehow, the call for reinforcement to containing the party was being mistaken for invitations and twenty-two hours would pass before the last non-Fairy, save a certain Drunk Falcon, passed out in an alcohol-induced slumber. Fairy Tail was still going strong and would continue to do so for another six hours. It would take fifty-one hours and some odd minutes for the first Fairy Tail mage to stumble back into the guild where they promptly collapsed to sleep off the mother of all hangovers.

By this time, a certain silver-headed barmaid would have been alerted to the fact that she was _not_ going to become an aunt and, as if to deepen the wound, returned to an empty guild and learned that nearly everyone was away for a huge party at Blue Pegasus. If she was saddened, the various demon takeovers she held were furious at the perceived slight and were not shy in making their temper known. One minute, the hungover bleary-eyed mages were looking at Mirajane in all their pitifulness, ready to cry tears of joy as she smiled sweetly and said she would be right back with her infamous hangover cure-all and the next, those same mages were shivering and some were actually crying as a black aura exuded from the suddenly cold-face of their resident cover girl, a malevolent smile curling her lips as she proceeded to place ice in the blender and then turned the machine on right next to their aching head.

* * *

With all this happening, it was no surprise no one noticed they were missing several mages until days later when the door slammed open from a fierce kick.

"We're back!" Natsu declared, grinning toothily. Beside him, Erza and Juvia stood, one straight-faced and the other eagerly scanning the room.

"Gray-sama! Juvia has returned to you! Gray-saaaamaaa!"

"Stripperella ain't here, rain woman!" the gruff iron dragon slayer's voice came somewhere from the back. "Oi, what's Pinky doing wit'chu? Oh fuck, is he free again?! Well, shit."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Natsu growled, stalking over to the corner where the other slayer sat beside his exceed and a far too-engrossed in her reading bluenette.

Gajeel scoffed. "What do you _think_ it means?" He growled right back, both men glaring at one another as their fisted arms met mid-air.

"B…boy's love!" Juvia excitedly whispered under her breath, voice breathy and almost a squeal if it weren't so quiet. Her hands clasped in front of her mouth as wide eyes followed the two slayers getting in each other's face until their foreheads were smashed against one another as they scowled and growled. Granted, Juvia's vision had them caressing each other and was filled with plenty of pastels, hazy imagery and sparkles. Lots and lots of sparkles. Beside her, Erza sent her a short confused look before turning to see what took the water mage's attention. Somehow, she found herself seeing Juvia's vision and blushed, stuttering her surprise.

"I...I...I had no _idea_. But what about Levy?"

Juvia's eyes widened and she forgot to breathe. "Love triangle!"

Mira gave a squeal that sounded suspiciously like "threesomes!" and "the babies!" Inevitably, a guild brawl was had that day and was more wild than it had been in some time. This was noted as it began to die out (Natsu was knocked out with a large bruise on his head courtesy of Erza and Gajeel was being lectured by Levy for tossing the unconscious Natsu onto the table, breaking Levy's hold on her book when the heavy body broke through the table, trapping Levy's reading and broken pieces of wood under him) and someone groaned out a "Shiiiit….who broke this table?!" Various other furniture, a couple of beams (structural, it turned out), and several windows had been broken and Elfman let out a shamed shout.

"We have disappointed Lucy again! That is not man at all!"

There was a brief pause as the guild looked down, as if awaiting a lecture and then, as one, the guild seemed to realize something.

"Say…" Max looked around, "has anyone _seen_ Lucy lately?"

The only reply was a particularly loud snore from Natsu who, it turned out, was asleep.


	5. Chapter 4

Sorry for the delay everyone. It took a long time to get this chapter where I wanted it and then I decided to make it a longer chapter as an apology. There is only one scene in the final draft that was present in the original.

LucyxAnyoneShipper- Lol, thank you. I'm sure Fairy Tail felt much the same about the unison raid (albeit without finding humor in it)

ilarual- I have some things thought up behind Mira's baby-obsession but honestly, I'm not sure how it would come about being revealed since the story focuses mainly on Lucy and Laxus. I have one way planned out that may work but we shall see where the muse takes us.

Thank you everyone for reviewing/reading.

* * *

 _ **Chapter Four**_

* * *

 _"Your Ancestor was Brilliant but Proud. Her Arrogance led her to leave the King's Court and His Protection, straight into Their Hands. Perhaps it was Her Strength which allowed Her to survive or mayhap They decided death was not to be Her punishment. Whatever the case, Anna Heartfilia survived the Encounter with Them but lost That Which She held Most Dear: Her Mind and Her Twelve Ecliptic Keys."_

* * *

Laxus was pissed. And tired. And hungry. _So_ so Hungry.

And right about now, deep fried Royals sounded good, if a bit sour and tough to swallow.

Because the Fiores had the audacity to stand before him and calmly make a statement that boiled down to believing their lives were more valuable than Lucy's. They were unwilling, or so they said, to lay the burden on the petite blonde mage but there was no choice—either of their deaths would "destabilize the country" though Laxus didn't see how. Monarchy was based on inheritance and sure, if the Princess died, the country would be thrown into turmoil without a known heir (oh shit, did that mean Lucy would be the heir?! Gramps was not going to be happy about that) but the king was old and the one the curse was after. If he died, it would be sad and the country would go through a brief period of adjustment but there was no controversy or opposition to Princess Hisui's claim to the throne. And the king didn't seem the sort to be hiding some love child in the wings or something. Then again, the king used to walk around with a pumpkin over his head so who could say how good his judgement actually was.

Laxus had no problem with the Royals asking for help breaking the curse. Just as he had no problem when they asked Fiore's various guilds to help fight off dragons despite thinking the Royals needed to have their heads examined if they thought tiring the mages out with a tournament before asking them to fight freaking _dragons_ was a good idea. He wasn't so pleased with the fact that they waited until the king was already _dying_ (Laxus wasn't sure what was going on since, save a drop in weight to his enhanced eyes, the king looked otherwise healthy) to ask for help since a curse seemed like something one should be much more proactive about. And okay, he wasn't fine with the fact that even after the curse claimed the king's only sibling who also happened to be Lucy's father, the Royals remained so damn complacent, neglectful even, about finding a way to end the damn thing and failed to inform their lone remaining relative.

But what he _really_ had a problem with was their thinking it was in any way acceptable to demand someone else—a guildmate of his, to boot—give up _their_ life so _they_ didn't have to. Especially since they purposefully kept her in the dark for years when she could have been out there, searching for clues to break the curse. Hell, for all anyone knew, the curse might have been broken by now if the two dumbasses running the country got a damn clue and told Lucy about it earlier.

Even if they didn't want anyone knowing their dirty little secret, Lucy deserved to know given that the curse would be gunning for her as well (frick, as if her holding a power that happened to serve as a giant magnet for trouble wasn't enough!). And dammit, hadn't Fairy Tail proven they could be trusted already?!

The fact of the matter was that if anyone had any reason not to trust the other side, it was Fairy Tail and the royals. Or really, just the government. How many times did Fairy Tail need to step in to clean up some mess of the government's making? Hell, the guild remained silent—for some reason—despite the Princess knowingly imprisoning an innocent member of their guild and then sending the Royal Family's personal execution squad (who the fuck had their own personal death squad anyway?! That seemed pretty damn villainy) to kill more innocent civilians (well, more or less. The group _did_ include Natsu and the demon Mirajane and they _did_ break into the palace after all. But sending a death squad after them was still a huge overreaction at best). Hell, the princess dabbled in Dark Magic and she and her father created the game to siphon the powers of its participants to charge what turned out to be the source of the very event they were attempting to prevent in the first place. Laxus wasn't sure how many of the game's participants were aware of that little fact. He only knew about it because his gramps told him and he wasn't sure how the old man discovered the original purpose behind the games.

Honestly, a part of Laxus wondered whether the Fiores were actually "good guys," as Bickslow liked to call the guild and their allies, or if they were only considered to be such since they ruled the country. Whatever they might say, neither members of the Royal Family seemed particularly bothered with demanding his guildmate—a veritable stranger to them despite being related and someone they already wronged once before—to give up her life if it came down to a choice between her and them. And the thing was, Laxus knew if they just asked, Lucy would stupidly agree to lay her life down for them because the girl had proven herself to have a ridiculously poor sense of self-preservation. He was some seventy-five percent sure that was why gramps demanded she be kept ignorant of the various threats against her life.

So no, Laxus was not fine with the Fiores right now and was itching to electrocute them til they crapped their pants (or skirt in the princess' case) and admitted they were cowardly dicks while he listed the many things wrong with them _and_ their shitty craptastic plans.

But he remained silent because Lucy evidently accepted what they said and if the girl whose life was on the line wasn't throwing a fit about it, what right did he have?

Still, the Fiores were shit. Both, he decided while he ignored them as they said in twenty words what could be said in three and tried to justify their sheer assholery existence, as people and planners.

According to his partner, he endured two days of train rides with an obnoxiously perfumed and non-Lucy looking Lucy to the capital city because the Royal Family had important information that could only be imparted in person. Only nothing they said said was new or surprising. Whatever Laxus hadn't already been told outright by Lucy, he easily inferred based on the information given. Their requirement that Lucy not look like Lucy was ridiculous as well. Firstly, he was there to keep trouble at bay and secondly, Lucy's identity would be obvious the second she whipped out one of her keys. And sure, they didn't say anything about Lucy rolling around in a tub of perfume the first day (the second day, she fortunately used less though it was still excessive) and the girl insisted it was a precaution against Natsu's nose but Laxus was going to choose to blame it on the Fiores anyway because he was increasingly suspicious they were involved in some way with anything that seemed stupid, pointless, or annoying…or any combination thereof.

He was tempted to tell them to fuck off (unfortunately, gramps nixed that idea when he first suggested it at the guild and he doubted things would change now) but bit his tongue—barely—and chose not to cuss out the Royals. It helped to imagine them twitching at his feet while he gave them the occasional reminder why only members of Fairy Tail could be dicks to one another.

Instead, he stood stoically, arms crossed over his chest and teeth grinding against one another as he watched Lucy collect Anna Heartfilia's notes and a small chest containing what looked to be medallions with some large gems in the middle. Of course, it would be too much to ask that the Royal Family who had been holding onto said knickknacks for generations _actually know_ their purpose so he wasn't surprised to hear they could only say the items were believed to be magical in nature though their true function—or where they came from—remained unknown. There was something about the artifacts, however, that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand at attention. Judging by Lucy's expression, it seemed safe to assume she shared his uneasiness. That the Fiores either didn't notice the odd energy emanating from the keepsakes or chose to ignore it did little to ease Laxus' mind.

He didn't trust them in this situation and was suspicious they were purposefully withholding crucial information from his partner. And dammit if it wasn't taking half his control to keep from sending just a little too much electricity through them for wasting an entire week of precious time the two mages didn't have when they could easily have given Lucy everything for the mission the first time they saw her. It was, after all, a curse intent on killing _them_ specifically and Laxus couldn't figure out if they were just that stupid or were purposefully delaying the start of the mission. Since their lives would be saved for just a bit longer if Lucy died, he was banking on their having nefarious reasons to bring the trusting mage in again. And being stupid because they could easily have killed her a week ago if that was their intention. Then again, Lucy _had_ been kept ignorant that the communications lacrima they gave her was a burner one and had he not been present, it was all too likely Fairy Tail would have lost their Celestial Mage in the ensuing blast.

With that in mind, Laxus refused the offer to spend the night at the palace and insisted he and Lucy get a move on. Had it been just the King, he might have accepted the invitation because from what he saw, it was the Princess calling the shots. Given the decrepit stench the King was emitting, it was possible he had no idea what was happening and his daughter, who reminded Laxus a little too much of himself pre-exile, was taking advantage of his state. Since he wouldn't put it past the Princess or anyone working for her not to just slit his guildmate's throat as she slept, there was no way in hell either Fairy Tail mages would stay the night within the Royals' direct influence. He bluntly expressed the very last bit, nearly word for word.

The other three balked before Lucy frantically began speaking a million miles an hour. Laxus wasn't sure what she said, partly because she was speaking too quickly to follow and partly because he simply didn't care to listen. Precious time had already been wasted by the Fiores and that, coupled with his distrust of them, meant he was adamant the two fairies leave immediately and no amount of cajoling on the petite mage's part would sway him.

Lucy used words, logic and was (mostly) calm and polite. She attempted to compromise, suggesting there was no reason they couldn't go to a hotel or inn. Laxus, in contrast, grunted, snorted, growled and rolled his eyes, steadfastly remaining unreasonable and refusing to budge an inch. He wanted out of the capital city and away from the strongest sphere of the palace's influence. Without more than a handful of words (this argument saw him using only three phrases: "Hell no," "Fuck no," and "Shit no!" in addition to his grunts) and no physical movement beyond crossing his arms and leaning against one of the palace's many pillars with a bored look, Laxus managed to somehow silently convey a tantrum that would have left any two-year old in awe.

As any caretaker of a toddler knows, obstinacy grows in the face of reason and Lucy's logical arguments strengthened Laxus' unyielding comportment. She argued that they didn't know where they were going or what it was exactly they were looking for, only that they were to travel eastward where they were told the key to canceling the curse was. She pointed out it was already dark and the two mages had spent a long day on the train with little in the way of refreshments and that Laxus, despite his best efforts to hide it, had obviously spent the entire trip nauseous. Lucy had any number of good arguments at her disposal and she made use of them.

Laxus, however, was born and raised in a guild with a penchant for flipping off logic and reason almost instinctively whenever it did not suit them. In addition, he was a powerful mage with a not entirely unearned reputation of not giving a fuck. When he tired of pretending to listen to Lucy, he grabbed her, tossed her over his shoulder, and lightning-transported out the palace without even a nod of acknowledgement towards the speechless royals.

They landed just outside a forest and Laxus realized three things as he put Lucy down and she fell on all fours, heaving: one, he had no idea where they were; two, he had seriously pissed off his only companion for the foreseeable future and would be well and truly fucked once Lucy Heartfilia (who, thankfully though he didn't know how it happened, was now looking like _Lucy_ again) was done puking her guts out; and three, puke was gross no matter how hot the mouth it came out of.

Since he could acknowledge deserving it, he awkwardly patted Lucy's back as he waited for her to recover enough to deliver one of her infamous kicks. She didn't. She did, however, let out the shrillest noise he had ever heard after shooting him a decidedly unimpressed glare. Flocks of birds flew out in droves from the treetops, shrieking their warning and in the distance, answering cries as well as howls, whistles, and screeches blended painfully with the unholy noise Lucy was emitting. Still, as he winced and blocked his ears, he mentally filed away the image of her on all fours, mouth open right before she produced a noise probably more at home with Tartaros than any human, for a future date. He would not, however, be filing away the image of her afterwards as her stomach decided it had just a little bit more it wanted to send up.

Once her stomach was empty of all its contents and she could support herself, albeit shakily and leaning against a rock, she turned tired eyes to him.

"Where are we?"

"Somewhere east," he looked around, ignoring the ringing in his ears. There was no need for her to know just how effective that punishment was (unbeknownst to him, he spoke a little too loudly to hide his injured hearing) or that he never paid attention to passing scenery in his lightning form. He moved too quickly and the blurs rushing past made him dizzy. Since he knew they were to head east, he traveled in that direction. Experience taught him he was unable to safely transport anyone in his transformed state for more than a second or so at a time so he used that knowledge to choose when to land.

Lucy swallowed thickly. "I…I think I can work with that." She grimaced, far too nauseous to care that Laxus just saw her empty what felt like half her body weight of partially digested food and stomach acid. Laxus watched, curiously, as she looked up at the somewhat cloudy sky, frowned, then touched one of her keys.

"North?!" she screeched and he flinched, wondering if he would have any hearing left by morning. A couple of birds who hadn't flown off during her previous shriek did so now. Her throat must have bothered her because she winced, one hand coming up to massage the area. "I thought you said we went east?! You took us _north_!"

Had Lucy ever thought to ask Makarov or Cana (or Mira but that would require sitting through the model's daydreams first), she would have known that Laxus absolutely refused to accept his total lack of navigational skills. Thus, when he said he took them east, she would have known they went any direction but. As far as Laxus was concerned, he _had_ traveled east and the world was at fault for choosing to spin in such a way east was now north. He wasn't sure how it was accomplished but he suspected it involved Zeref or his father because trouble generally involved one of them. He would bet on Zeref just because the trick worked and Ivan had a poor track record with success.

Also, he was choosing to believe Lucy was wrong. After all, how the hell could she know which way they had traveled?

For the sake of his precious ear drums, he stayed silent and even helped her up before kicking dirt over the expelled contents of her stomach. Giving the now covered pile a second glance, he paused and then grabbed the rock Lucy had been leaning against, lifting it with ease and then dropping it over the newly kicked over soil. It was too late to make looking for another campsite feasible but with Lucy's upchuck now buried under a rock, much of the scent of it had dissipated as well. With a little distance, even his slayer nose wouldn't be able to smell anything save the nature surrounding him and his still ridiculously perfumed partner. With a grunt, he rolled the shoulder he had his bag wrapped around and made to walk a few yards away, where he decided they would be camping for the night. It wasn't the clearest night and the moon was little more than a sliver but the light emanating from it and what stars were visible was enough for Laxus' to see relatively well in the dark. Unfortunately, Lucy was not blessed with the keen sight of a slayer so after she stumbled for the second time, Laxus made his way back to her and, placing his hands on her shoulders from behind, steered her away from various rocks, fallen branches, and overgrowth that she was likely to trip over until they reached the relative leveled ground he decided would be their camp for the night. For a second, he thought he heard a muffled noise and tensed, earning himself an over the shoulder, concerned look from the smaller blonde in front of him. Hearing nothing, he shrugged and let go of Lucy's shoulders with a grunt.

"We'll camp here for th—" There was no warning. In the split millisecond it took his ears to tell his brain it could hear something coming towards them with breakneck speed, he grabbed Lucy and pushed her away from the path of whatever was coming upon them from underground. In the second Lucy let out a surprised shriek and then landed on the ground with a loud "oomph!" several things happened in quick succession.

Firstly, Laxus positioned himself between Lucy and their underground visitor, small flashes of lightning cackling around him as he sent several small shocks to the ground before him in warning. Unfortunately, the land was dry and dirt and rock itself were poor conductors of electricity and he was unsure if the incoming party even felt the current he sent into the earth or whether it was simply ignored. Secondly, the lightning dragon slayer let out a curse when the muffled sound of digging angled away from him and towards the direction he had shoved Lucy. Thirdly, Laxus flashed in front of Lucy and she had no sooner hit the ground than she found herself airborne again, this time in tensed arms as Laxus jumped out of the way of whatever menacing threat he detected. There was a brief—so brief she wondered if she only imagined it—second in which she felt lightning cackle into existence not just around the lightning slayer, but herself as well, before Lucy felt Laxus shift his body beneath hers and absorb the brunt of the impact as they they hit the ground. For a brief moment, everything was still and despite her inability to sense what Laxus could, she knew whatever threat Laxus was hearing had become still as well.

The stillness lasted just long enough for her to realize she had forgotten to breathe.

Before she could take in precious oxygen, however, Laxus had sprung up again, pushing her behind him until her back hit a tree. Looking over his shoulder, he sent her an indecipherable look and then eyed the tree. "Climb."

His voice was steady and somehow, that made her feel worse. She was a mage, too, dammit, and she could—and would—take care of herself. With a scowl, she pushed his body forward as much as she could to get some breathing room but he was, as expected, nothing but pure muscle and she was sure only using the tree as leverage allowed her to push him forward a couple of steps. Miniscule steps, but still steps. He growled, sending her a bewildered look over his shoulder while keeping his senses trained on the ground ahead of them. With a muttered curse, he turned, grabbed Lucy, and leapt into the air again.

There was no time and his stupid partner was being…stupid! What part of climb did she not understand?!

They landed, her thrown uncomfortably over his shoulder because frankly, he no longer trusted her to react like any normal person with an ounce of care for personal safety would and figured if he wanted her away from danger, he would likely have to either toss her there or lightning-port both away.

For her part, Lucy was forced to let out air she hadn't even been aware were still in her lungs when they landed and Laxus' shoulder dug into her stomach. She was just about to open her mouth and complain when she finally heard what Laxus had been able to all this time.

There was a rumbling deep underground and it was getting louder as its source came ever closer to them. She couldn't be certain but was willing to bet that Laxus could feel the earth vibrate beneath his feet. Tensing, she prepared to leap off Laxus and pull out her Fleuve d'étoiles. Because she was supposed to keep her identity secret on the way to Crocus, her keys were not at their normal spot attached to her belt but had instead been tucked inside the hidden pockets of her boots. It meant she was unable to reach them in her current position but as soon as she landed on the ground, she would pull them out.

"Let go," she hissed at Laxus, who ignored her. "Let _go,_ " she repeated and frowned when Laxus merely tightened the arm holding her. It was fortunate Laxus couldn't see her face because she was so furious, she was sure her anger would manifest itself in a newfound ability to kill with her glare alone.

Laxus leapt away again, landing several feet away and towards the side of their previous location and once again, the breath was knocked out of her when his shoulder dug into her stomach. She heard him curse and surmised—correctly—that whatever was after them wasn't stopping.

"Stay behind me," Laxus muttered lowly as he slowly let her down and pushed her behind him. "If I say run, run."

She didn't plan on running whatsoever but decided now was not the time to argue. Feet planted on the ground, she reached down, grabbing the keys hidden in her boots and moved beside Laxus. The earth before them was now visibly being disrupted from underneath as whatever was after them got closer and dug upward until, just a few feet away, it slowed to a stop. Laxus tensed and was clearly agitated as he, again, pushed her behind him.

There was a second in which everything went silent, the earth stopped vibrating and whatever was digging had clearly ceased their action. The noise of their various leaps and actions had alerted any nearby wildlife something was afoot and they, too, ceased any noise. Then, without warning, a pink head of hair popped up from underground. A maid-clad body connected to the head soon rose from the hole, a lantern in hand and Laxus blinked and dropped out of his defensive stance, drawing one hand down his face tiredly.

"Shit Blondie, you could have warned me you called her," he grumbled, annoyed. The small blonde still pushed behind him shot him a glare he felt rather than saw and harrumphed.

"I didn't call her," she hissed, "Virgo can come out whenever she wants." In a louder and kinder tone, she called out, "Hello Virgo."

The spirit blinked, eyeing Laxus and, peeking from behind him, her key wielder. "Apologies, Princess, did I interrupt? Shall I be punished? Do you intend to use that on me?" Nodding towards the handle in Lucy's hand, Virgo continued. "Perhaps you will tie me up and leave me hanging from a tree, bound and unable to escape while I am made to chant I am naughty a hundred—no, a thousand—times."

"What the fuck?!" Laxus' eyes were wide as he shot a horrified glance at the spirit and then turned, disbelievingly, to Lucy. "What the hell do you _do_ to her, Blondie?"

"Nothing!" Lucy glowered before pushing past him to happily stand beside the celestial being. "What are you doing here Virgo? Why didn't you just come out with us? You had us worried!" Smile brightly at the uniform-wearing maid, Lucy grabbed her hand and tried to make her way back to camp. Tried, because the spirit was unmoving. "Virgo?"

She turned to face the eccentric maid whose gaze was fixed on Laxus.

"Virgo?" She repeated when the spirit failed to acknowledge her and then, a few seconds later, called out again. This time, the spirit turned to face her.

"Is he for me? Will he be punishing me?" There was a breathy hitch, almost imperceptible except to Laxus' keen ears. "Did Princess have him attempt to shock me?" Normally monotone voice lifted slightly in excitement as Virgo grabbed Lucy's hands in her own, bringing them, clasped, to her chest. "Has Princess decided to use an enforcer on me?"

"Seriously, what the _fuck_?!" Laxus swore as Lucy turned beet red, mouth opening and closing with little more than a squeak escaping. Finally, it appeared the still blushing mage found her voice.

"Wha—NO! No, Virgo, ju—just, let's go to camp!"

Laxus let out a chuckle as the smaller mage spun on her heels and marched towards the intended campsite only to promptly trip on some overgrowth after a couple of steps. Her spirit quickly followed her, helping Lucy up, stomping on the overgrowth a couple of times as if in revenge, and then holding out the lantern to provide better lighting. Before they moved on, however, Lucy shot Laxus another glare, which he responded to with a roll of her eyes. Granted, he doubted she could see it very well.

It took a few seconds for Laxus' chuckles to die out and a frown to mar his face. Clearly, he and Lucy were going to need to have a discussion about what happened tonight—and soon. They had been lucky this time but perceived threats would not always turn out to be one of Lucy's spirits. One day, likely sooner rather than later, it would be an actual threat and Lucy's actions and refusal to comply with his orders could place them both in jeopardy. With a tired sigh and roll of his shoulder muscles, he followed the path Lucy and her spirit took back to camp.

It took him no more than a minute to reach the campsite but obviously, that had been a busy minute. He was stunned to see an entire camp had been set up, complete with two separate tents, a fire, and, most confusingly, a picnic table and bench. Lucy knelt in front of one of the tents, rifling through a bag she did not have earlier. Her lack of reaction to an entire campsite—and apparently, her luggage— appearing from thin air told Laxus this was a normal occurrence for the Celestial Mage. At least it explained how the petite mage showed up at the train station empty-handed before their departure to the capital city and still managed a change of clothes for the second day.

Ignoring the sting of guilt when the spirit handed Lucy a bottle of water and the mage rinsed her mouth of any remaining evidence of her prior sick state, he mumbled that he would hunt for food. Their chat could wait, at least for tonight when both were tired and hungry. He had a feeling it wasn't going to be an easy or short conversation and frankly, this day had been too long already. Neither of them were particularly pleased with the other—though why _she_ was upset with _him_ was a mystery—and it seemed like trying to have that conversation now was just an invitation to argue. He was too exhausted for that and his ears were still recovering from her earlier little fit of temper.

Laxus was a damn good hunter. His acute senses and power meant if he could sense his prey and its location, it was as good as dead. This night was no different from any other times he hunted, either for himself or his team, and it wasn't long before he made his way back to the campsite, several birds in hand. Placing the birds on the ground by the table and reaching into his bag to pull out a knife, Laxus was prevented from plucking, gutting, and all around cleaning the carcasses by the maid spirit as she set down what appeared to be a small basket of vegetables (like the tents, Laxus was sure the vegetables materialized from thin air) and grabbed one of the birds before holding out a hand, palm up, towards Laxus, gesturing for his knife.

He scoffed and grabbed a second bird, growling when the spirit swiped both the knife and bird from him and immediately began preparing the bird to be cooked. As she did so, she nodded her head towards his bedroll, which had been placed in front of one of the tents and had a towel folded neatly on top.

"I took the liberty of creating a bath nearby. Princess is busy at the moment so you may go first. Punishment?" she asked, almost hopefully.

Laxus raised a brow at her request, grunted and shook his head before grabbing the towel and heading in the direction the spirit suggested. It had been a long day and every time Laxus considered his meeting with the Fiores or just thought about what might lay ahead, he could feel a new knot forming deep in his muscles. Furthermore, Virgo's method of appearance had set his adrenaline pumping, energizing his previously tired body. A bath would be nice but not until he rid himself of the excess energy demanding to be used.

He stopped once he reached a small pool, too perfectly sized and formed as a bath to be natural. Large flat rocks served both as a border and a place to keep clothes and towels away from the forest floor. He chose to ignore the voice in his head that was trying to figure out where the water filling the pool came from, deciding it wasn't worth thinking of. Besides, his mind was more focused on his partner, the discussion they would be having soon and her reaction—or lack thereof—with regards to the mission and the bombshell dropped on her about her parentage. A part of him wanted to shrug it off since how she took the news had nothing to do with him but another part was convinced she was in denial everything was really happening and once she stopped being in denial, there was going to be a lot of tears and uncomfortable things regarding emotions that Laxus had no business dealing with.

Letting out a tired sigh, Laxus willed himself to forget about the day and rolled his shoulders and neck to ease a particularly tight spot of tension he decided to name Lucy after its origin. Dropping down, he willed himself to relax and, keeping track of Lucy's scent (and grudgingly grateful the perfume that made him ill earlier was of help here), began his stretches.

He almost hoped her infamous ability to attract trouble would hold true tonight—he was sure beating whatever unfortunate soul decided to trouble _his_ charge would be the perfect way to rid himself of both, excess energy and the frustration he couldn't vent out to Lucy. Perhaps it would teach Lucy to follow his directions in battle and save him from needing to broach a topic he honestly hadn't expected to need to have with the normally reasonable girl.

* * *

Back at camp, Lucy exited the tent, gale force glasses in one hand and her ancestor's notes in the other. Looking around, she frowned when she saw Virgo standing over the fire, two skewers with two birds each in hand.

"Virgo, what are you doing? You know you don't have to cook," Lucy set down her notes and glasses on the wooden table and reached for one of the skewers. Virgo moved her hand away, just out of Lucy's reach.

"Princess should focus on the mission," the monotoned spirit answered. "Big brother says we all need to help Princess any way we can."

Letting out a sigh, Lucy closed her eyes and prayed the pulsing tension building behind one of her eyes would not grow into a full-fledged migraine.

"That's really sweet Virgo but it's not necessary for you to take over all the chores. You've done enough setting up camp and holding everything for me in the Celestial Realm. Honestly, I'll let you all know if there's anything I'd like or need you to do." She smiled sweetly at Virgo who seemed torn between following orders from her master or from her 'big brother.' "I could use a break anyway," Lucy gestured towards the table where she left the notes. "I can understand some of what's written but most of it is gibberish to me. I wonder if Anna spoke or wrote in a different language than what we use now?"

"Language is always changing," Virgo moved the skewers slightly further away when Lucy made another attempt for them. "Were you and Anna Heartfilia to meet and attempt a conversation, neither of you would understand the other though you both speak what you now call the Common Tongue."

"That's right, you were one of her spirits, weren't you?" Lucy managed to grab a brief hold of one of the skewers but her distraction allowed the maiden spirit to pull it away with little more than a gentle tug. "Would all her spirits be able to look at her notes and understand it?"

"No, we spirits are imbued with the ability to understand our masters, no matter what era or country they may hail from. For some, that includes the written word but as with humans, without regular use, we are apt to forget. The more masters we have, the more quickly we are likely to forget any unused languages." Finally acquiescing to her keyholder, Virgo released both skewers, taking a step back to allow Lucy to look over her handiwork.

"Virgo," Lucy said slowly as she examined the beyond trussed-up birds, "is there a reason why these birds are so, erm, elaborately bound?" Lucy looked up just in time to see the gleam in her spirit's eyes.

"Is that not how one prevents the birds' wings and legs from moving while cooking?" Though her tone was all innocence, the spirit's quirks were too well known and too often displayed for her mistress to be fooled.

"And the pattern you made with the string?"

"Is it not satisfactory?" Virgo tilted her head ever so slightly and again, blinked innocently. "I thought it would add some interest to the presentation of the meal. Was I incorrect?"

Lucy stared at her spirit, then to the ridiculously-bound birds, and then again at the deceptively innocent-looking maid. Letting out a breath, she shook her head and smiled fondly at her friend and spirit. "Virgo," she began.

"Yes, Princess? Do the birds not meet your satisfaction? Shall I be punished? I can show you how I tied the knots on the birds if necessary."

"That's alright, Virgo," Lucy paused, studying the birds again before returning her attention to the still at-attention maid. "Just...in the future, don't play with the food." As Lucy focused on unwrapping the birds from the layers of string repeatedly wrapped around much of the carcasses (choosing to ignore that her spirit managed to hogtie one bird), Virgo pouted before turning her attention to the now smoldering fire. Once Lucy was satisfied that the skewered birds were correctly trussed, she placed both skewers over the fire, resting on the spit.

For several long minutes, spirit and mage stared into the fire, one with her hands clasped in front of her and the other, absentmindedly turning first one skewer, then the other.

"Virgo," Lucy began haltingly, keeping her eyes on the birds cooking in front of her.

"Princess?"

"H-How….um," Lucy's voice trailed off, shaking slightly. Virgo's face didn't change but those who knew her best might have been able to recognize the somewhat depressed air that caused her shoulders to slump ever so slightly. Lucy sighed before squaring hers though she still refused to make eye contact with Virgo. Her eyes stared unseeingly into the fire, hands still save for a lone finger that traced circles over the handle of one of the skewers. "I...Is she..." Again, Lucy failed to complete her question and instead, she closed her eyes and turned her head away, as if in pain.

Knowing better than to speak the name of the "she" in question, Virgo carefully answered, voice neutral if slightly flatter than usual. "She is well, Princess."

Lucy let out a breath she hadn't been aware she was holding and gave a quick nod. "Th…that's good. I'm glad."

"Shall I—"

" _No_!" Wide brown eyes bore through blank blue ones before their owner blinked and cleared their throat. "No," Lucy repeated, softer this time, "but thank you."

Virgo's expression remained carefully schooled. "Very well, Princess." Both remained silent after, one just a little too focused on the progress of the cooking birds and the other, unwilling to leave though with nothing to do.

The spirit didn't move until the birds were almost completely cooked through and then it was only to relieve her mistress from her position by the fire just as Laxus broke through the copse of trees, a towel slung over one shoulder. Lucy looked from Laxus's blank expression to his clearly damp towel.

"There's a pool nearby?" she asked, excitement brightening her eyes.

"Thanks to her," Laxus grunted, using his chin to gesture towards the silent spirit who was suddenly just a little too focused on the cooking meal.

Lucy blinked. "Virgo," she wait until Virgo's blue eyes met her brown ones, "didn't I tell you digging out a bath is unnecessary?"

Virgo's eyes took on a slightly excited spark. "Punishment?"

Lucy laughed softly at the eagerness that laced her spirit's tone. "No Virgo, no punishment." She smiled affectionately.

"Oi," Laxus called out, "What's takin' you so long? Am I gonna hafta toss you over my shoulder again?!"

Lucy's eyes widened—and Virgo's sparkled—at his words.

"Is Princess being punished tonight?" the spirit asked nonchalantly. Lucy flushed bright red and shook her head frantically, hands waving spastically in front of her.

"Wha—no, no no no! He didn't mean it that way—right Laxus, you didn't mean that!"

"Eh?" The man in question cocked his head, momentarily confused. "I'm not sleeping while being tortured by that crap you call perfume and I ain't gonna wait around much longer for ya to get ready."

"I do not understand," Virgo cocked her head innocently as she glanced, first at the male, then her master. When she spoke, her voice was clear and rang out in the silence of the camp. "Is Princess punishing him?" A brief pause and then, "Does Princess need help with preparing the punishment?" Virgo's eyes were gleaming. "Will Princess punish me as well?"

Laxus wasn't sure how this conversation came about but decided he liked where it was going. A smirk curled one corner of his lips. "Oh? I was talkin' bout the bath but if that's what you're planning, I could wait some more. Though not too long—tomorrow's gonna be a long day and I'd like a couple hours of shut-eye after we're done. Oh, and I do the punishing."

Lucy emitted a sound akin to a squeak which made Laxus chuckle. Hearing it, she glared at him before crossing her arms and huffing.

"Please, as if you could handle it," she sniffed, turning her head away. She walked a few steps away until just in front of her tent, she spun on her heels, a hand coming up to point a finger at him. "And I don't smell like crap!"

Laxus pursed his lips in mild amusement as the flaps of the tent blocked her from view. Cocking his head, he waited until he heard something being unzipped and then called out, "Getting ready for me, huh?" There was an "eep!" from within the tent that he found thoroughly entertaining and he was considering the unexpected perk that was teasing Lucy when she finished whatever she was doing and appeared in a short robe with clothes in hand. Laxus casually traced her figure with his eyes, brows raising just the slightest bit when, despite her entire body practically blushing, the petite woman glared daringly at him. She stalked past him, taking several steps away before turning her head to speak over her shoulders.

"Well?"

The lightning mage snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Are you coming or not?"

Laxus waited until he was just beside Lucy, small flashes of lightning crackling around his form to light the path before he spoke in a tone dripping with innuendo, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. "You seem awfully interested in my cumming, Blondie."

His laughter rang through the woods, full and hearty as Lucy spluttered.

* * *

After a minor squabble over whether Lucy needed Laxus to remain nearby, Laxus grumpily made his way back to camp. During the short trek back, he grumbled about compass spirits, dogs who were clearly snowmen, and stubborn bossy blondes. Keeping a sharp ear and eye out for any signs of disturbances in the general direction of the bath, Laxus' scowl deepened as the distance between he and Lucy grew, only to immediately vanish at camp where the sight—and now that he wasn't distracted by his thoughts, smell—of the now-cooked meal lifted his mood.

Stomach growling, he reached for one of the plates holding a bird, famished, but a wooden spoon smacked his hand away. Another hand placed a bowl of steaming vegetables on the table, beside the same plated bird Laxus had targeted.

"Princess is not here yet."

Since Lucy's protectiveness over her spirits was well-known to the guild, he thought it best not to do anything to upset her, such as batting away her spirit's hand. Instead he grumbled something very impolite and anatomically impossible, felt discomforted by the gleam that lit the spirit's eyes when she overheard, and waited impatiently, one elbow on his knee and chin resting on the heel of his palm, for his partner to finish her bath so he could sate his appetite. A part of him considered just grabbing her from the water and bringing her to camp but his ears—and nose—reminded him neither had been left untouched by her. He could feel his ears attempting to burrow itself deeper into his head and brain at just the thought of her possibly making that… _noise_ , again, and his nose was looking forward to no longer being forced to breathe in the artificial chemicals that laden her perfume. Furthermore, his chest throbbed as he remembered the surprisingly painful force behind a Lucy Kick, something he no longer laughed at Bickslow and various members of the guild for falling victim to.

It took a little over fifteen minutes in which Laxus found himself the uncomfortable object of study for a certain blue-eyed spirit before sensitive ears picked up the telltale sound of footsteps and soft chatter making its way towards the camp and he instantly eyed the food. The maid's face remained expressionless but somehow, Laxus got the feeling she was smirking at him, a wooden spoon he didn't remember her holding a second ago in one hand as if daring him to try and steal a bite. Lucy, following some odd bird creature with a giant dial on its head that glowed a soft blue light, had barely broken through the line of trees to the campsite before he made for the food and snarled in frustration when, just as quickly, the maid smacked his hand away from the delectable roast with her spoon.

"Fuck woman! She's here, ain't she?! Lemme eat, dammit!"

"Princess, dinner is ready." Laxus growled as the celestial spirit ignored him in favor of her mistress though her spoon-wielding hand expertly battled against his as he made more grabs for a piece of the bird. He let out a victorious "ha!" when the spirit batted one hand away only for the other to successfully grab and tear off a leg. He took special delight in biting into it, making sure to make a show of chewing it with his mouth open for the spirit's benefit.

"Umm…did I miss something here?" Lucy looked from one to the other, the spirit she insisted was a dog in her arms. "Virgo, there was no need to wait. Laxus can eat if he wants. He must be starving."

Had Laxus not been so hungry, he might have shot the spirit a triumphant smirk but Lucy was right and he hadn't had anything to eat or drink since his breakfast that morning which consisted of toast and a little juice in a (failed) attempt to pre-empt motion sickness. So, he contented himself by finishing off the entire bird and then grabbing a second, making sure to keep eye contact with the spirit as he bit into the bird with an exaggerated moan, eyes declaring victory. Since he wasn't a complete dick, he did rip off the bird's other leg to hand to his partner. She thanked him and silently tucked into her dinner with much better manners than he could be bothered to show. Beside her, the white trembling dog-spirit was debating between the chocolate bar he held in one hand and the lollipop in the other.

"Thank you Virgo, it's delicious," Lucy praised after the first bite and he rolled his eyes as he swore the spirit preened a bit. "Isn't that right, Laxus?"

Feeling her eyes on him, the behemoth of a blonde paused, intending to shoot her a look that made his dissatisfaction of his meal's interruption clear but found himself unable to do so at the pleading look in her eyes. Letting out a sigh and wondering what the hell he was doing, he gave a small grunt in affirmation which, evidently, the blonde took as both agreement to her comment and thanks for her spirit. She beamed, either not seeing or choosing to ignore it when Laxus rolled his eyes, and turned to talk to the spirit for a little longer. Laxus wasn't sure what they were talking about nor did he care and the girls were content to leave him to his food. Save for the few seconds he took to stare in curiosity when the spirit he was told was a dog (he had his doubts—a snowman, perhaps, but a dog?) swallowed the chocolate whole and then shoved the lollipop into its mouth, the lightning mage was focused entirely on ensuring there would be no leftovers.

It wasn't a bad way to pass the time and Laxus, while not exactly enjoying it, had little to complain about. It was different from whenever he went on missions with his team or alone which was to be expected and he was pleased to have a greater variety than just whatever he or someone else caught as the night's meal. He would have to remember to ask Lucy where the vegetables—and tents—came from later (he had a hunch it involved her spirit which was a shame because Laxus would like to be able to get a more well-rounded meal even if Lucy and her spirits weren't present. Just eating charred meat every day for every meal was a bit much even for him) and there was something to be said about having a couple of mugs of ale present to finish his meal off with. Lucy stuck with water and finished off her much smaller plate long before Laxus decided his stomach was satisfied but instead of entering her tent, whipped out the notes left by her ancestor and called out another spirit that Laxus didn't know what to make of to help look over the book.

Evidently, it was not written in a manner that translated well in modern times. Laxus wasn't sure how the spirit, a cross-shaped old man who appeared to suffer from narcolepsy, was supposed to help as after the initial flip through the notes, he very clearly went to sleep. Since Lucy ignored it, Laxus shrugged it off as well and turned his attention back to his meal. It was impossible to ignore the scream the old man let out as he woke from whatever nightmare he was suffering from, however, and Lucy looked concerned as she forcefully hit Laxus' back when the startled older mage's meal went down the wrong pipe. Sending him an apologetic look (backed by the apologies spewing from the old spirit's mouth), Lucy asked this "Grandpa Crux" what he discovered. Laxus had no idea how sleeping helped the old man learn the notes were written in code (also, he was sure Porlyusica had some potion or another for the serious snot bubble that man-cross thing sported in sleep) but remained silent in favor of polishing off the rest of the meal and throwing the occasional, distrustful, look at this so-called "Grandpa Crux."

The old spirit was dismissed not long before he finished his meal and his now empty plate was barely pushed aside before the maid spirit, up until then silent as she sat, bound, on her knees between Lucy and Laxus, (had he not been so ravenous, Laxus might have made a comment earlier when the spirit returned to the spirit world only to pop back out not even a second later, gagged, chained, and kneeling on her knees as she looked at her mistress with blank eyes frightening in the adoration he could not see but could _feel_ was there) grabbed it and the other empty plates from the table and vanished in a puff of smoke. Stomach sated and in a much better mood for it, Laxus considered the great benefits that could be had traveling with Lucy and her spirits. Hell, he would probably even be willing to deal with the maid's apparently stickler for rules nature or whatever-ness if he could have a meal that _felt_ like an actual meal with little trouble to himself. The bath, he reflected, was not bad either and while he wasn't sure what was going on with the spirit, he couldn't deny deriving amusement when her actions clearly caught her key-holder by surprise.

He tensed for a second as he felt magic gathering nearby before relaxing as the sound of a doorbell rang out and pink smoke filled his vision. The once-again present and no longer bound maid spirit was, he decided, not at all bad company—certainly more useful than _Loke_ —and he looked upon her with something that, on him, could be considered almost appreciative. Almost, because it soon transformed into something lecherous (without food to distract him, he could now reflect on the image of a pretty maid-outfitted spirit begging to be punished on her hands and knees) that might have looked more at home on the face of his gramps or Macao and Wakaba. The spirit seemed ignorant of his obviously debauched turn of mood (one could neither be raised nor related to Makarov Dreyar nor born and bred in Fairy Tail and _not_ turn out at least a little perverse after all. It was a mystery that neither Laxus nor his sperm donor were total sexual deviants) but her mistress was not and Laxus was briefly brought out of his pleasant reverie by the blonde female's squeak and kicking of his leg under the table. He shot a glare at said blonde who returned it with a scowl and something that was likely meant to be a threatening growl but sounded akin to a noise a kitten might make in an attempt to seem big. Still in the haze of food-induced pleasantry, Laxus let an amused rumble vibrate across his chest and he was about to open his mouth and tease the blonde when a giant pink… _something_ blocked her from view.

"Princess, Aries asked me to give you this bedroll. Punishment?"

"No punishment, Virgo," Lucy smiled at the spirit as she rubbed her face against the pink monstrosity. "Please tell Aries I said thanks…" she trailed off as she eyed the second bundle still being held by the maiden spirit. "Is that for Laxus?"

Now Laxus was curious as well.

He wasn't thrilled by the pink ball but it looked infinitely more comfortable than his old sleeping mat which would have been considered well-used pre-Tartaros. Post, the kindest word to describe it was ragged. Given the abuse it took from a particularly hungry monster encountered after Laxus' last mission, it was somewhere between tattered and shredded but Laxus had either forgotten or hadn't had time to purchase a new roll before this mission. Laxus planned to use it still since it could continue to serve as a dry barrier between himself and the floor but he wouldn't complain about having something else—and soft—to sleep on either. Even if that something else looked like something he expected a unicorn might fart out.

"Yes, Aries made bedrolls for both of you." At the spirit's words, Laxus reached out a hand towards the bedroll only to narrow his eyes in annoyance when the spirit pulled the roll away from his reach at the last second. "But bedrolls—and tents—are only for good little boys and girls so," the spirit gave Laxus some side eye, " _you_ do not get one."

No sooner had the last word left the spirit's lips than did she disappear, dissipating pink smoke and the eyesore in Lucy's hands the only evidence of her appearance. Laxus was left gaping and Lucy was torn between confusion, amusement, and embarrassment as she watched the stunned mage stare where her spirit once stood. A part of her, unvoiced because she thought Laxus might be all too willing to partake, wondered if this was Virgo's latest ploy in search of punishment.

After his initial shock wore off, Laxus realized the camp was now also down one tent, obviously the one intended to be his. His good mood now completely gone, there was only exasperation and exhaustion as he turned down the obviously embarrassed Lucy's offer to share a tent (he assumed she offered to share her bedroll but was unsure—it was hard to make out what she was saying between her stutters and hems and haws) and hunkered down on the mess formerly identifiable as his own bedroll and grumbled about stupid childish maids.

* * *

"Morning Laxus! Did you sleep okay?"

Laxus grunted, eyes narrowed at the cheerful, if distracted, blonde girl who was currently reading something in one hand and stirring a pot with the other. His sleep, if one could call the couple of hours he was in and out of semi-consciousness that, was less "okay" and more nonexistent. The moment the sun began to peak above the horizon, Laxus gave up his attempts and instead explored the surrounding area, hoping to find some clues as to where they were.

"Breakfast should be ready soon—it's just plain oatmeal but Virgo will drop by in a bit with some fruit and cinnamon and honey if you'd like. She'll probably bring some extra sides with her—she's big on having a well-rounded meal and—" she broke off. "Um, Laxus?"

Laxus made a sort of noise from the back of his throat that meant for her to continue, eyes still studying her face though he broke his gaze when she shifted uncomfortably and he realized what he was doing. He scowled, brows furrowed and crossed his arms self-consciously in front of him.

"Is everything alright? You're not still upset with Virgo for last night, are you?"

Laxus wasn't so petty to be upset about that (well, maybe just a little bit but the spirit was dropping by with food and Laxus was not one to hold a grudge against anyone who kept his stomach happy…plus he had no proof, but he thought she was responsible for his currently warmed state) though he _was_ upset about the night before. Just not in the way she was thinking.

He hadn't meant to make her uncomfortable by staring at her. Sure she was attractive—Laxus was neither blind nor Natsu so it wasn't like he didn't notice—but attractive women weren't a rarity, in or out of the guild. Hell, he essentially grew up with Mira and _she_ wasn't being objectified as one of Sorcerer Weekly's favorite pinup girls because of her talent as a mage. Attractive (and otherwise) women (and men) throwing themselves at him were just part of being a famous and powerful mage and it had been many years since Laxus could be distracted by pretty.

No, what he had been searching for something else.

Laxus was always a light sleeper outside of his own home and last night was no different. He had barely managed to finally fall into a somewhat restful sleep when he woke with a jerk at the smell of salt, ready to smash the face in of anyone who apparently managed to get through his defenses. He hadn't even been alert enough to register where he was and why—almost mechanically, he was on his feet, senses flaring out as it mapped his surroundings. It took less than a second to remember where he was and why and a millisecond after that for him to make it two steps from Lucy's tent where he was prevented from entering by her waiting lion spirit. Loke assured him there was no attack and Lucy was neither injured nor in danger. The girl was crying but there was no need for Laxus to concern himself—her spirits were ready and willing to help her however they could.

 _Pft._

When did the phrase "don't worry" ever lead to anything _but_ worrying?

Laxus wasn't sure what to do with a crying _anyone_ , much less nakama he would be spending the foreseeable future in the sole company of. Emotions were something best left to others as far as Laxus was concerned, especially given that acknowledgement of his own was still something he struggled with and found uncomfortable at the best of times. At this point in his life, he could readily admit to having the emotional depth of a shallow bucket. Bickslow insisted a bucket was being overly generous and that Laxus was so emotionally constipated, an overturned plate might be the more suitable comparison. After shooting the (currently being electrified) seith mage a glare, Ever deemed him emotionally inept but Laxus preferred Freed's explanation that he was simply above petty emotional distractions. Since he and Lucy were more colleagues rather than friends, leaving her to her spirits seemed the right thing to do.

But that didn't mean he had to like it, any more than he would have liked consoling her. While she cried silently in her tent, Laxus was left feeling powerless and antsy outside, too distracted to sleep, too tired to focus, and all too aware that despite knowing she was not alone, the only presence he could smell in the tent was Lucy's. It was unsettling to the stronger mage and it took more control than he wished to keep himself rooted in place and to silence the warning growl itching to be released. Dragon slayers were a more instinctive bunch than the average mage and while logically, Laxus knew Lucy was in the company of her spirits who clearly doted upon the girl and that these spirits had no discernable scent of their own, instinctually, all his senses heightened as the occasional murmur and mumble that was too soft for even his keen hearing to make out clashed with his nose that found no one present save himself and Lucy. He could tell himself whatever he wished; the dragon within had taken note of the discrepancy between his senses and was awaiting a possible threat that was not present.

He remained in the same agitated state even after he gave up the pretense of trying to sleep. He rose, rolled up the tattered remains of his bedroll (which could only be identified as such by someone who had seen it in better days) and then made his way to the small bath in hopes a cold dip would fully wake him. Away from the smell of tears and conflicting reports received from his senses, Laxus could relax despite the shock of cold as he sunk into the pool of water and what was meant to be a wake-up dip turned into a tired slayer finally able to relax enough for a much-needed nap. When he woke just a couple of hours later, he was shivering despite his greater resistance to the elements. The air was warm but the water had yet to benefit from the new day's heat and that, combined with the body's natural tendency to cool during sleep made the warmed towel just within his reach a welcomed surprise. He didn't know how, but he knew immediately it was the work of Lucy's spirit and was grateful enough that he might have given his gratitude if the spirit was present.

He was, however, thankful that she was not.

Once dry and dressed, he made his way back to camp where he was confronted by a chipper Lucy who was acting as if she had not spent the night crying. It was bewildering yet somehow, not.

Like everyone else, the girl had changed between the guild's disbanding and later re-founding. There was wariness where once there was only trust and Laxus could see the way she guarded herself from her friends. He found the specifics difficult to pinpoint but his instincts screamed something was wrong whenever she was near and that, more than anything, had been the impetus which saw the guild master-in-training speaking more to the Celestial Mage in the first place. He had mentioned the change in her to his team though only Bickslow agreed with him initially. The seith mage warned him against getting too close to the smaller mage, calling her dangerous. Neither Laxus nor the rest of the Raijinshuu understood what the normally laughing mage meant and the acrobatic man declined to elaborate beyond clarifying that Lucy was no danger to the guild.

With a shrug of his shoulders, Laxus decided not to mention last night. If Lucy wanted to be all rainbows and sunshine, he would let her. After all, though she had put on a strong front throughout their journey and whenever she spoke to him about this mission, he wasn't so foolish as to think she was truly okay with everything happening. And if, after being told more or less to break the curse on the Royals or let herself die, Lucy decided she needed a good cry and wanted to be alone for it, who was he to stop her? Hell, if anything, he was relieved she wasn't looking to him for comfort.

Still, there was something about the entire situation from last night that niggled at his mind…

"Laxus?"

Lucy's voice broke him from his thoughts and he shook his head, as if to clear his mind.

"Hm?"

"Are you okay?"

"Fine." He hadn't meant to sound so brusque and felt, rather than saw, her rear back. Normally, he would simply move on but the smell of her tears was still fresh in his memories and he found himself softening his tone somewhat without thinking. "Just tired." Mentally, he panicked when her eyes lowered and the air—the frikken _air_ —around her seemed to grow heavy and sink.

"I'm sorry."

"The fuck you sorry for?!" Laxus' surprise drew Lucy's eyes to his own slightly wide orange ones.

"Well," her voice faltered slightly as she looked up at him from beneath thick lashes, "if Virgo had just given you the bedroll Aries made, you might have slept better and wouldn't be tired now."

Laxus rolled his eyes and let out a snort. "I've fallen asleep on a pile of rocks and slept like a baby. What I slept on had nothing to do with anythin'."

Well, that was partially true. He had been on a pile of rocks but it was less sleeping like a baby and more being black-out drunk and then utterly exhausted and hung over. Looking back, he wasn't entirely sure if what he had done in that rocky outcropping could even be termed sleeping since, as far as he could tell, peckish birds and other creatures didn't often mistaken sleeping mages as a possible food source. But that was neither here nor now.

Not wishing to continue the conversation, Laxus gave a cursory glance at the campsite and, finding nothing notable, returned his sight to Lucy. Another time, the silence between them might have been comfortable or at least non-suffocating but right that minute, looking at the cheerful girl now ladling oatmeal into a couple of bowls while his nose twitched at the memory of salt and despair emanating from her tent and his ears noted the lack of distant bustling and hushed conversations that was generally the best he could expect in civilization, it dawned on him that this was it.

He and Lucy were truly alone and Lucy's safety was left in his sole care.

Tartaros and to a lesser extent, Alvarez, taught Laxus he was not enough. He was not strong enough, mentally, physically, or magically. There would always be someone out there stronger and while he always knew that, Tartaros brought home to him that that someone might not be on his side. They might be trying to tear down what he held dear so he needed to become stronger, better, not because he had to be the best but because it was the only way he could—the only way he knew _how_ to—protect those dearest to him.

Fairy Tail _was_ that group but unlike with the Raijinshuu or some of the other guildmates he grew up with, he never felt personally responsible for Lucy. She was near full-grown by the time they crossed paths and he was in a particularly dickish phase so beyond the few minutes it took to determine she was an inexperienced mage, he didn't think of her again except to consider whether or not she might be amenable to being motorboated in the middle of the guild. Once his head was pulled out of his ass, the tone of their relationship had pretty much been set and there was neither the opportunity nor reason to change it. She was nakama but always somewhere in the periphery, even when he was tasked with something intrinsically linked to her. Sure he was pissed that anyone would target a member of his guild but it was rare he felt unable to take them on and protect the blissfully ignorant girl. The few times he thought failure might be possible, he knew she would still be safe, that Natsu and the rest of the team so freakishly attached to her would let no one and nothing so much as sneeze in her direction without first going through them. Her team had an envious and terrifying habit of surviving—and trouncing—whatever it was they were up against, even if— _especially_ if—it should be impossible. Laxus wouldn't be surprised if the reason no one realized Lucy was a walking target for so long was because her team was both so powerful and absentminded as to inadvertently foil the plans of one dark guild or another simply by going about their daily lives which involved a rather ridiculous amount of Lucy-time.

It just seemed like something they would do.

But her team was not here. Instead, it was him. And Her.

On a mission in which the most likely outcome was death. A mission where there was no real _clue_ about where to start or what to do. Only a direction—east. East of what? Of Fiore? Of Crocus? Of Ishgar? Of some damn rock whoever came up with the clue happened to be near at the time?!

A single direction, and a whole world in between where they were and where they might need to be. Assuming there even was a _where_ and that the one hint they had was correct.

To make things more difficult—and one of the biggest reason he was so uncomfortable to have been chosen for this mission—he and Lucy had never actually fought together. They fought on the same _side_ but never _together_. It wasn't that they were completely unfamiliar with the fighting styles the other employed—both saw the other fight in the Grand Magic Games and more recently, had occasion to peek in on one another's training due to needing one thing or another to complete paperwork. But there was a world of difference between a supervised match and an actual, life-or-death battle. He and Lucy simply didn't have that _connection_ needed between partners whose survival depended on one another nor did they have the luxury of time to develop one.

They trusted each other but not enough. He needed her to listen to him and trust him enough to follow directions without question because it could mean the difference between life and death, between his ability to protect her or survive a battle and the loss of one—or both—their lives. And he needed to know that he could trust her to do as he instructed without question, that she would not do anything stupid or fight him when he needed her out of the way so he could focus. He needed to know he could rely on her to act responsibly, to do what was necessary to survive this mission

It was something he mistakenly assumed she knew and thankfully, learned of his error last night and not in the middle of an actual battle.

And it was something he couldn't put off speaking to her about.

"Laxus?" Lucy's concerned voice drifted over from the table where she had set their respective bowls of oatmeal and was currently pouring over her ancestor's notes again. He let out a small sigh and made his way to sit in front of his bowl.

"We need to talk…"

"Is something wrong?" Lucy looked worried and then cast a wary eye around them and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Is someone here?"

"Wha—no, _no_." Laxus stated emphatically. "I would've taken care of them already anyway." He rolled his eyes. Yes, trust was definitely something that needed to be broached.

"Oh," Lucy visibly relaxed, "then what did you want to talk about?" She was chipper again and it was annoying. Laxus couldn't figure out if she was naturally this chipper and her mood prone to sudden changes or if she was just faking it. He wasn't sure which one he would prefer, to be honest. Before he could open his mouth in reply, he felt what he now knew to be the tell-tale sign of one of her spirits arriving and sure enough, the sound of a doorbell rang as a puff of pink smoke introduced the maid spirit. Virgo, if he remembered correctly. He tried to make a habit of learning the names of people who might be expected to habitually feed him. Once, he thought it would be amusing to call Mira by a different name (well, not so much a name as "the maid"…he was in the middle of his dick phase) and the meal she cooked up for him had been laced with some sort of undetectable laxative. She denied it, of course, and he had no proof but Laxus _knew_ she was responsible for the hours he spent on the toilet.

"Thanks again, Virgo," Lucy smiled as she began chopping the strawberries the spirit brought over. "So what did you want to talk about Laxus?" Eying the so-called knife she held in her hand (Laxus had a sneaking suspicion the spirit brought the cleaver as a warning to him though he couldn't fathom why) and deciding now was not a good time to hold this particular conversation after all, Laxus grimaced.

"It can wait," he lied and helped himself to some honey and cinnamon, ignoring the fact he saw the smallest flash of a smirk flit across the stupid spirit's face.

He was starting to think all of Lucy's spirits were just as annoying as Loke.


End file.
